Harry Potter and the Devil's Bargain
by ChAOtiC ReApEr
Summary: Story up for ADOPTION.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Harry Potter J.K. Rowling does.**

**I would like to thank my beta MariusDarkwolf for editing this chapter.**

**I was watching the movie Constantine the other day and took inspiration from it to write this story. **

Bold writing is taken directly from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

"**We thought you knew what you were doing!" shouted Ron, standing up, and his words pierced Harry like scalding knives. "We thought Dumbledore had told you what to do, we thought you had a real plan!"**

"**Ron!" said Hermione, this time clearly audible over the rain thundering on the tent roof, but again, he ignored her.**

"**Well, sorry to let you down," said Harry, his voice quite calm even though he felt hollow, inadequate. "I've been straight with you from the start; I told you everything Dumbledore told me. And in case you haven't noticed, we've found one Horcrux —"**

"**Yeah, and we're about as near getting rid of it as we are to finding the rest of them — nowhere effing near, in other words!"**

"**Take off the locket, Ron," Hermione said her voice unusually high. "Please take it off. You wouldn't be talking like this if you hadn't been wearing it all day."**

"**Yeah, he would," said Harry, who did not want excuses made for Ron. "D'you think I haven't noticed the two of you whispering behind my back? D'you think I didn't guess you were thinking this stuff?"**

"**Harry, we weren't —"**

"**Don't lie!" Ron hurled at her. "You said it too; you said you were disappointed, you said you'd thought he had a bit more to go on than —"**

"**I didn't say it like that — Harry, I didn't!" she cried.**

**The rain was pounding the tent, tears were pouring down Hermione's face, and the excitement of a few minutes before had vanished as if it had never been, a short-lived firework that had flared and died, leaving everything dark, wet, and cold. The sword of Gryffindor was hidden they knew not where, and they were three teenagers in a tent whose only achievement was not, yet, to be dead.**

"**So why are you still here?" Harry asked Ron.**

"**Search me," said Ron.**

"**Go home then," said Harry.**

"**Yeah, maybe I will!" shouted Ron, and he took several steps toward Harry, who did not back away. "Didn't you hear what they said about my sister? But you don't give a rat's fart, do you, it's only the Forbidden Forest, Harry I've-Faced-Worse Potter doesn't care what happens to her in here — well, I do, all right, giant spiders and mental stuff —"**

"**I was only saying — she was with the others, they were with Hagrid —"**

"**Yeah, I get it, you don't care! And what about the rest of my family, 'the Weasleys don't need another kid injured,' did you hear that?"**

"**Yeah, I —"**

"**Not bothered what it meant, though?"**

"**Ron!" said Hermione, forcing her way between them. "I don't think it means anything new has happened, anything we don't know about; think, Ron, Bill's already scarred, plenty of people must have seen that George has lost an ear by now, and you're supposed to be on your deathbed with spattergroit, I'm sure that's all he meant —"**

"**Oh, you're sure, are you? Right then, well, I won't bother myself about them. It's all right for you two, isn't it, with your parents safely out of the way —"**

"**My parents are dead!" Harry bellowed.**

"**And mine could be going the same way!" yelled Ron.**

"**Then GO!" roared Harry. "Go back to them, pretend you've got over your spattergroit and Mummy'll be able to feed you up, you stupid cunt."**

**Ron made a sudden movement: Harry reacted, but before either wand was clear of its owner's pocket, Hermione had raised her own."Protego!" she cried, and an invisible shield expanded between her and Harry on the one side and Ron on the other; all of them were forced backward a few steps by the strength of the spell, and Harry and Ron glared from either side of the transparent barrier as though they were seeing each other clearly for the first time. Harry felt a corrosive hatred toward Ron: Something had broken between them.**

"**Leave the Horcrux," Harry said.**

**Ron wrenched the chain from over his head and cast the locket into a nearby chair. He turned to Hermione.**

"**What are you doing?"**

"**What do you mean?"**

"**Are you staying, or what?"**

"I…I don't… we promised." Hermione said weakly.

"Hermione just come on, we are going to die if we stay with this fool. Let's go to the Burrow." Ron said as he held out his hand.

Hermione looked at his outstretched hand and then to the stunned face of Harry before making her decision. She dropped the shield and with a flick of her wand had all of her things packed away, she looked at Harry and threw all of his stuff from her handbag onto the floor and just said weakly "I'm sorry Harry." before going outside. Ron just gave Harry a smug look and followed her, Harry just stood there in shock at what just happened, his two best friends had left him, the woman that he loved had left him, he heard the crack of an apparition and it made him feel even worse as if that sound proved that they were not coming back.

Still in shock he stumbled blindly to one of the chairs and collapsed in it. He sat there staring at the mouth of the tent blankly for the next few hours before he got up shakily and wandered to the beds, he looked at the three beds, and staggered onto Hermione's bed; curling up in a ball and inhaling her scent, as tears welled up in his eyes and cascaded down his face only to be soaked up by the pillow, he cried silently for a while before succumbing to exhaustion.

Vanilla that was what he smelt. He had just woken up and kept his eyes closed. He wondered where he was as this did not feel like his bed and did not smell like it either. His pillow was slightly damp and this caused his face to stick to it. He slowly got up still feeling exhausted; he opened his eyes and blinked a few times waking himself up. He looked around the tent and found it devoid of life, cold and empty.

Then it all came crashing down on him as he remembered last night. They had left him alone; they had deserted him when he needed them most. Tears welled up in his eyes as his heart broke yet again. He held the blanket close to him and breathed in the vanilla scent that was Hermione. It made him even more sad as he realized that the one person he relied on more than anyone else, the person who was his rock and the person that he loved above all had left him.

He got up from the bed wearily and stumbled to the kitchen area searching for something to eat as his stomach grumbled for food. His search only yielded some stale bread and some water and he halfheartedly ate it. Anger grew in him as he realized that Ron must have eaten all of their food. The anger grew as he thought more about his, now, former friend; he gripped the mug in his hand tightly and threw it against one of the walls smashing it to bits. He clenched the edge of the table causing his knuckles to whiten; he closed his eyes and took in deep breaths, calming himself down. He saw the locket where Ron had thrown it and picked it up. He hated it but still he put it on.

Two weeks had gone by and still he had made no progress. It was driving him mad, slowly yet surely the loneliness, the silence was driving him insane. He took to just lying down outside staring at the night sky watching the stars. He imagined the stars to be those who had died for him, and who loved him; how he wished he could join them. Soon hunger, exhaustion, and fatigue over took him, he started to become delirious.

^v^

Harry couldn't take it anymore; he realized that he could never defeat Voldemort. So one night exactly 16 days from the day that his best friends had left him, he made his decision. He walked outside of the tent and sat close to the fire he had conjured up. The sky above was crystal clear showing the stars in all their glory, it was a perfect night.

Harry rolled up his sleeves and brought the knife down against his left wrist. Slowly he cut down against the skin causing it to break. He grunted as pain flashed through him but still he cut. Blood now poured out as he cut the tendons causing him to lose feeling in his fingers. He pulled the knife away and stared at the deep gash in his wrist that now poured his blood and soon his life.

He grasped the knife clumsily with his left hand and began slicing his right wrist. He forced his wrist against the knife as his left hardly had any feeling. Soon both wrists were gushing out torrents of blood, staining the snow he lay on. His eyes grew blurry and the pain became a dull ache, he smiled as he realized that he would soon be joining his parents.

"Well…well…well what do we have here? Harry Potter, the boy who lived wants to live no more."

Harry opened his eyes and tried to focus on where the voice was coming from. He blinked a couple of times and looked around and what he saw surprised him. It seemed as if everything had stopped moving, the trees seemed to be stuck in their positions, the fire stayed still and even the blood had stopped gushing from his wounds.

He looked up and saw a man looking down at him with a smug look on his face. He was wearing a crisp white suit and a white shirt, he was bald and he had what appeared to be tar on his feet.

"Who the hell are you?" Harry muttered, his mind barely allowing him to think clearly due to lack of blood.

The man just walked towards him and seemingly conjured up a chair from nowhere. He then sat down directly in front of Harry and said "Me? I am Satan."

Harry then laughed and tried to grab hold of the knife but his limp hands could not hold it.

"Ah, you see when you cut the tendons you lose feeling and you really can't do much with those limp things." Satan said as he grabbed the knife from his hands. He then traced the knife over Harry's scar.

"What do you want?" asked Harry.

Satan sat back with a thoughtful look on his face before replying "Well you see, you have now committed suicide and you do realize that all suicides go to Hell. So My first intention was to come and take your soul away but now, well now I have a proposition to make."

Harry snorted and asked "And what is that proposition is that?"

"Many years ago a human by the name of Tom Riddle made a deal with Me, in exchange for power I would get his soul. But he was a very unfair man and has split his soul up to try and become immortal. Now really, I kept my end of the deal and now I want his soul. So, what I will do for you is heal you right up, give you a bit of power and you, well you can help me get his soul."

"Will I still go to hell if I help you?" Harry asked warily

"Of course you will, but if you help me out here I'm sure we can make your afterlife more pleasant." Satan replied with a seemingly honest smile.

Harry thought about it for a while before making his decision "What the hell, I'll do it."

Satan smirked at him and said "Ahh there's a good boy."

He then grabbed Harry's wrist where Harry had cut himself and squeezed down. Harry screamed in pain as his skin seemed to sizzle as though on fire. After a minute Satan let go and what seemed to be a baphomet appeared, seared on each wrist.

The Devil got up and started walking away and as he reached the edge of the surrounding woods he said "See you around Harry." And promptly disappeared.

Harry just stared at him leaving before he dropped off into unconsciousness.

**For those of you who don't know a baphomet is a satanic insignia which is a sort of pentagram with a goats head in the middle. I found it in Wikipedia.**

**Please R&R and thank you for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter J.K Rowling does.**

**I would like to thank my beta MariusDarkwolf for editing this chapter.**

Harry Potter woke up with a groan. His head throbbed in pain as he sat up from the hard ground that he had passed out on. Te snow had soaked his clothes causing them to cling to him. He sat up and sat against the tent as he tried to ponder at what the hell just happened. He opened his eyes and wiped away the blurriness with his palms. He saw that it was now just morning and the sun was just peaking above the trees, the fire had long died and was now just a pile of wet logs.

Harry shook his head as he tried to remove the cobwebs in there. His memory was foggy and he was finding it rather hard to figure out how he wound up sleeping outside on the hard ground when there were perfectly comfortable beds inside. He brought his hands up and to rub his head and in doing so his sleeves of his robe fell down and showed off his wrists. He paused in what he was doing as he noticed the marks burnt into his wrists. A sudden rush of memories entered his head as he saw it and he remembered last night clearly, his attempted suicide, Satan coming to take his soul and eventually him making a deal with Satan.

Harry looked around and saw that the ground on either side of him was covered in his blood; it had caked up and congealed causing it to look quite disgusting. He looked down at his own robes and saw that it was covered in his blood as well. He just buried his head in his hands wondering what the hell was going on in his life.

Harry sat there for a while watching the creatures of the forest wake up and do there morning business. His stomach grumbled signaling that he should get up and eat something. He slowly got up, his muscles aching as he got up on his feet. He stretched a bit getting out all the kinks and working out the pain and cramps that came from sleeping on a hard ground. He ran his hair through his disheveled hair as he stumbled into the tent.

He tiredly walked towards the bathroom and took a look at himself in the mirror on the wall. He was a mess. With dirt on his face and in his hair and his eyes bloodshot and baggy. He took a quick shower and put on some clean clothes. So feeling refreshed and slightly better he went into the kitchen to get something to eat.

His search proved fruitless and his stomach grumbled its disappointment. He sat back wondering what the hell he was going to do now and suddenly a brilliant idea popped into his head.

"Kreacher." He shouted.

Almost immediately the old house elf popped into the room with a slight crack. The house elf had a worried look in his eyes as he scanned the room but as soon as he saw Harry he immediately calmed down.

"Master Harry, it is so good to see you. Why is you not calling on Kreacher to help you?" the old elf croaked out.

Harry looked at him quizzically before replying "Didn't the Death Eaters breach the security and enter the house. We thought that the house was compromised. That is why we didn'tcall for you."

Kreacher looked at him and cracked a smile "Silly master. Those Death Eaters did not do anything, as soon as theys come near the house, the old Black wards is bouncing them away. And also theys cannot harm old Kreacher, I can turn invisible."

Harry sat back down in shock, was what Kreacher had said true. Did they really travel throughout the cold country side having barely anything to eat when they could have had a warm house, good food and a comfortable bed. Also why hadn't they called for Kreacher to help them? House elves are really powerful as Dobby had showed in second year when he attacked Lucius Malfoy, where they really that daft?

Harry looked at Kreacher and saw the elf looking at him with a questioning look wondering what his master wanted.

"Ok Kreacher if what you say is correct then there is no way that I am still staying here when I can have a warm house and your great food. So what I want you to do is pack all this up and take it all to Grimauld Place."Kreacher snapped his fingers and Harry found himself standing outside in the cold and with a quick glance around the place he apparated to onto the front steps of Grimauld Place.

With a slight crack Harry found himself standing on the front steps and without a moment's hesitation he entered the house to get away from the cold. The warmth immediately engulfed him and there was a sweet smell wafting from the kitchen. But instead of satisfying his hunger he strode up the stairs and wound his way towards the library.

Harry entered the room and saw that it was quite clean and brightly lit by the gas lamps giving the room a homely feeling. Harry quickly scanned the bookcases searching for anything that would give him any information about his current predicament; he had realized that if anyone had information about it, it would be in the Black library.

While he scanned the books Kreacher popped into the room and supplied him with an array of food and drinks to satisfy him. After a few fruitless hours and plenty of tea and biscuits he finally found a book that some vague information to him. The book was hidden away in the back of one of the bookshelves and had a black velvety cover with metal studs on it. The title of it was 'The book of Leviathan'.

Harry sat down on one of the chairs and got comfortable before he began reading the book. In it the book explained vaguely about what powers he now possessed. It seems that his magical power was multiplied by 100, physically he had become extremely fit, all scars and bodily ailments were cured and he would be able to summon demons from the underworld to help him. Then the book also explained the negative aspects of his condition, it seems that as time went by one would become increasingly insane, they would start to crave doing evil deeds and finally anger and hatred would fuel them.

Harry tossed the book aside in disgust and shuddered at the thought of what the Black family was doing with that book. He wondered if he should destroy it but then realized that even if someone read the book they would have to be extremely insane to make that kind of deal and sell their soul for that, it was a bittersweet deal. He sat back in thought and basked in the crackling fire in the fireplace. It seemed that his life had once again gone to shit.

Harry peered outside and watched the snow slowly fall covering the ground in a white blanket; he watched as the muggles walked past the house huddled in their coats and jackets against the cold completely oblivious that there was a war going on that could decide their fate.

Harry looked down at the front of his house and was surprised to see a Death Eater sitting outside in the snow huddled up in his black robe. As he stared at the Death Eater a new feeling crept up in his mind, one of bloodlust and wanting to kill and torture. Harry began wondering how nice it would be to kill that man, how melodic his screams would be as he tortured him. He shook his head and tried to remove those thoughts and started thinking that he could not do that to another human being, it was wrong. He carried on thinking that as he stared at the Death Eater but soon enough his thoughts began to meander back to those of murder and torture, a voice crept into his head and spoke to him. It spoke in a sensual and seductive woman's voice, as if it was his lover whispering sweet nothings in his ear.

"Do it Harry, I know what you want. Give in to the craving."

"No it is wrong; he is a human being just like me."

"Ahh but Harry he lost all rights to being a human when he took the dark mark. Think of all the people he killed, all the woman he raped and all the children he left orphans."

"It's wrong." Harry replied weakly in his head.

"But it is also right. You know he deserves it Harry. Seek vengeance for all those he wronged. Become their hero."

Harry struggled to hold on to his views but soon he gave in and all pretense crumbled. He allowed those cravings to take control of him and gave in to the bliss and excitement that it provided. His eyes dulled to become lifeless black orbs as he stared down at the Death Eater.

"Yes he does deserve it; I will take vengeance for all those people."

The voice gave a small giggle which turned into a sadistic laugh before saying "Ahh Harry, dear boy, I knew you would come around. Now why don't you bring him in, it must be awfully cold outside."

Harry walked downstairs on autopilot; it was as if he had no control over his body. He stumbled down the stairs wondering what he was going to do. He reached the front door and took a deep breath, his mind spinning at what was happening. He steeled himself and opened the door carefully. He thought about making himself invisible and made to take out his wand but as he looked at himself he saw that he was already invisible. It seemed that he had now progressed to being able to do wandless magic. He shook his head and filed away that information for later inspection.

Harry stepped outside into the cold air which bit into his skin. He shivered and carefully made his way towards the Death Eater who was just sitting there staring at were the house was situated. Harry loomed over the person and stared at him, inspecting him.

The Death Eater gripped his cloak tighter towards himself and began muttering "Why on earth must I get this job. Stupid Potter and his friends won't come back here. They are most probably camping somewhere in a forest."

Those were the last thoughts and words of the Death Eater as he simply seemed to collapse as if he was hit on the head by an invisible mallet.

Harry just stood there staring at his hand, he had done it again, he had wandlessly and silently stunned the man. Harry looked around to see if there was anyone watching but found none. He gripped the Death Eater at the ankle and dragged him along to the front steps. He paused for a bit wondering if he had forgotten anything and he quickly remembered that the house was still under the Fidelus charm and that he should tell the Death Eater the address. So he froze the Death Eater and enervated him.

The Death Eater could not move a single muscle besides his eyes which were frantically moving around in fear. Harry leaned forward and whispered the address into his ears. The Death Eaters eyes widened as he saw the house appear before his very eyes.

A quick stunner knocked him out again and his world turned to black. Harry gripped him again and with a grunt pulled him into the house. He dragged him passed all the paintings on the walls who were murmuring at what they were seeing; he dragged him into the kitchen and left him lying in the middle of the room.

Harry flicked his wrist and conjured up a straight back chair, with another flick of his wrist he sent the Death Eater flying into the chair and finally he conjured up ropes to bind the man. Harry sat on another chair in front of the man and stared at him, the Death Eater was slumped forward with only the ropes keeping him from crashing to the floor.

Harry leaned forward and tore the mask the Death Eater had on, it was Blaise Zabini. Harry remembered him to be in the same year as him but in Slytherin. He never used to intentionally bring attention to himself in school like Malfoy but instead stayed in the shadows watching.

Zabini was about as tall as Harry and had olive skin. He seemed to be the kind of person who took pride in himself and always wanted to look at his best. Harry remembered vaguely hearing about how Zabini's mother used to secretly kill off her husbands and take their money.

As he sat there deep in thought the craving came back in full force. It was an itch that he needed to scratch and it was so tantalizingly close. He quickly enervated Zabini wishing him to be awake when he had his fun.

For the second time in an hour Blaise Zabini woke up wondering what the hell had happened to him. He tried to move but it seemed that something was holding in place. He lifted his head and shook out the cobwebs and when he looked straight ahead he gasped and sat upright in shock, Harry Potter, the boy that every Death Eater dreamt of catching and presenting to their master on a silver platter was sitting right in front of him. He tried to move again but still could not; he looked down and saw that ropes were holding him to the chair. It was then that he realized that he was at the mercy of his enemy, it was then fear and terror crept in him and as he stared at those dull green foreboding eyes he knew that he was not going to be shown any mercy.

"Hello Zabini, how good to see you. Would you kindly mind telling me what you were doing sitting outside my house." Harry asked in a slow drawl.

Zabini looked around in fear trying to find an escape route. On finding none he answered "I was waiting to see if you or your friends ever returned."

Harry got up and started walking about the room. He was soon out of sight of Zabini who became even more frightened when he could not see Harry. The room was in complete silence except for the sound of Zabini's quick breaths.

Blaise started sweating as he wondered where Harry had gone to. The silence was palpable and the waiting was even worse. Suddenly as if like a ghost Harry bent down from behind and whispered in his right ear "Oh dear, Zabini, I have returned and I am sorry to say that you are going to be the entertainment tonight."

Zabini nearly jumped out of his skin in fright as Harry whispered in his ear. Tears cascaded down his face as he wished for a quick death. Harry walked in front of him and stared him straight in the eye. What Zabini saw would haunt him for the rest of his rather short life, he saw those once green eyes that used to be filled with life, and sparkled with happiness transform into red orbs flecked with green and he saw his death.

Harry gave a cruel scary laugh and walked towards one of the chest of drawers lining the wall; he then turned on the old wireless and stared tuning it.

"You know Zabini I think some nice music would be perfect." Harry said with a small laugh.

Finally he found a station and the song Sacrificial Suicide by Deicide started playing. Harry smirked and wondered towards the drawers at the kitchen counter. He pulled out some knives and placed them near Zabini. He then picked up Slytherins Locket from where Kreacher had placed it and also left it by Zabini.

Then the fun began. Harry started off by taking a sharp looking knife and slicing the tips of Zabini's fingers causing his nerves to open up; this led to Zabini screaming in pain as it felt as if he was under the crutiatus at that specific spot.

His screams of pain only sought to make Harry more excited. Harry then cast a spell to remove all of Zabini's clothes besides his underwear. Walking behind Zabini, Harry started slashing at his back causing deep gashes to occur, blood gushed out in torrents squirting onto Harry's face and clothes. Zabini just screamed until his voice became horse, he started convulsing due to blood loss and passed out. Harry sealed the wounds on his back but left the scars. He then enervated Zabini awake and started punching him, Harry's fists smashing into his face causing bruises and breaking a few bones, Harry then stared punching and booting him all over his body.

Harry stepped back panting, his fist clenched and sore from the beating he had just given. Zabini looked a mess; his face was an unrecognizable bloody pulp. His body was black and blue and covered in blood. His head hung limp as he swayed between consciousness and unconsciousness.

"Is that all you got Potter." He wheezed and started coughing up blood as he tried to act tough.

"My mother can hit harder than you."

Harry smirked at him and grabbed his head and stared him in the eye, he then spoke in a cold whisper that sent shivers down his spine "Such a brave man you are Zabini. Perhaps we should bring your mother here to see you. We could have so much fun with her. I'll take her in all positions, how about that Zabini. Right here in front of you, she'll be moaning my name while I fuck her. Yes I think I will do that, then, as I climax I will slowly slit her throat. Hmm so delicious it will be. Also I believe you have a sister, I am sure she would not mind joining in the fun."

Zabini looked at him in horror; this was not the Harry Potter he once knew. Now he only saw a monster and this monster would actually do what he said.

"No Potter, please I beg you leave them out of this, they did not do anything wrong. Please I beg you." Zabini screamed out.

Harry smirked at him and just walked towards the table thinking 'nothing like some good physiological torture'.

"Oh Zabini we shall see. Now we are going to be doing an experiment. You see I have been trying to destroy this locket for some time now but have failed every time; but then I realized that it is a locket, so you have to wear it. So I am going to make you wear this and then we will try and destroy it."

Harry picked up the locket and brought it over to Zabini. He tried to move away from Harry but Harry just punched him and forced the chain over his head and dropped the locket so that it laid on Blaises chest.

Harry then sat down on his chair and stared at the locket wondering what to do. He then saw the snakes embedded on the locket and realized that as it was Salazar Slytherin's locket it would obviously be opened by parselmouth.

Harry then stared at the snake and imagined it to be alive and staring him in the eye. He then hissed out §Open§.

At first nothing happened but suddenly the locket started to glow and clung onto Zabini's chest, it then started to shake and push its way against his chest. Harry could see it start to burn into his flesh as Zabini started screaming in pain. The stench of burning flesh could be smelt and the sizzle of it could be heard. Harry watched in awe as the flesh around the locket stared to actually rot and become black. Zabini still screamed in terror and blacked out from the pain. The locket still burnt away and caused the flesh to rot. Black like cracks spread all over Zabini's body, originating from the locket. Finally the locket stopped glowing and shaking and Harry saw it had completely sank into the blackened area of Zabini's chest so that only the front of the locket was visible.

Silence descended upon the room as Harry stared at Zabini. He looked carefully at him and it appeared that he was no longer breathing. Harry crept closer to him but suddenly as he was about to check his pulse, Zabini lifted his head up, but this time his eyes were not their usual blue but blood red.

Harry stepped back and stared at the now possessed body "Hello Tom."

Tom looked up at him and spat out "Who are you, what am I doing here, unbind me at once or you will feel my wrath you pathetic shite."

Harry looked on in amazement as Voldemort in Zabini's body tried to struggle free.

"Actually Tom I can't. You see I have been tasked by Satan to destroy all of your Horcruxes, in exchange for me being given a better time in the afterlife. He's not too happy with you reneging on your deal by the way."

Tom stopped struggling as he heard what Harry said. Fear flashed in his eyes before he said "You are lying you pathetic worm. You will die by my hand."

Harry just shrugged at him and grabbed two knives. He stabbed one straight through the locket causing Tom to scream out in pain and causing a white light to erupt from the locket. The other knife he shoved into Zabini's forehead. The light covered the whole body for a few seconds before dying down completely. The baphomets on Harry's wrists each glowed and burnt for a few seconds causing Harry to gasp in pain. Zabini's body then simply became dust and vanished as a powerful gust of wind had come.

Harry staggered back in shock at what had happened. He had destroyed a Horcrux. He sat down on his chair and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he looked down at his hands and saw the blood coating it, he looked at his clothes and saw the blood soaking them, and he looked around the room and saw the blood and gore on the chair and on the floor. The craving had disappeared and had been taken over by shock, the guilt, and the disgust over what he had just done.

Harry staggered over to the wall, his mind spinning and in shock. He slumped against the wall and slowly lowered himself to the ground. He placed his head in between his knees and shivered at what had happened. He just sat there in that position for hours just nodding his head and replaying the whole scene over and over again. He was becoming a monster.

1 WEEK LATER

Dreams, they take you places filled with happiness and joy, they remove all of your troubles and problems and they make you feel bliss. Hermione Granger woke up to the sound of an alarm going off. She was having such a wonderful dream where Harry had forgiven her and had swept her off of her feet but alas all good things must come to an end. She laid there in bed in her small bedroom in Shell Cottage, as she remembered the day exactly three and a half weeks ago when she had made the worst decision in her life.

She and Ron had apparated away to the Burrow, where they were immediately smothered by Molly who as usual was overbearing and as they entered the house they were immediately bombarded with questions by the rest of the red head clan; it seemed that the whole Weasley family was staying there with the exception of Bill and Fleur.

At first she had thought that she had made the right decision and that Harry was not making any headway in the search, but soon she realized that she was wrong. She realized that Ron was just a stupid idiot who only thought of food and quidditch. She also realized then that she was in love with Harry Potter. He always cared for her, had always showed his love for her, and he also never abused her like Ron often had. It was two days after they had left him when she realized that; and she had cried herself to sleep that night thinking that she would never be able to tell him how she felt.

Molly also had constantly tried to show how Ron would be the ideal husband for her and how Harry was a fool. After a few days of staying at the Burrow Hermione was going mad, luckily Bill had come over to visit and she begged and pleaded for him to let her stay with him and Fleur, he succumbed to her pleading as he realized her predicament.

So now here she was exactly three and a half weeks from the day she left Harry. She looked out of her small window and saw a gray cloudy sky which depicted her mood. She sat up from the bed and went into the bathroom. As Hermione looked into the mirror and saw that she had bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep due to so much worrying about Harry; she was always depressed and hardly ate. She had a quick shower, changed into some warm clothes, and then went downstairs for some breakfast. She also made the decision to go to the spot where they last camped out and hoped that Harry was still there and she also prayed to every deity she knew of that he would forgive her.

**A\N: The name of the book Harry found 'The Book of Leviathan' is actually the name for a real satanic book according to Wikipedia.**

**Please R&R and thank you for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter J.K Rowling does.**

**Thanks goes to MariusDarkwolf for being an awesome beta.**

Harry Potter was a right mess. For the last six days he had been consumed with guilt. His mind was filled with anguish and regret for what he had done. He was like a robot for those six days as he just did what was necessary for the day and stayed in bed. He never had a bath or shave and looked like a homeless dunk. He also found a stash of Ogden's Firewhisky that he cracked open and drank till he passed out. He had stopped going to the kitchen as whenever he did his eyes were always drawn to the chair that Blaise was tied to and to the spot on the floor where all the blood had once lay even though Kreacher had cleaned the whole room spotless.

Now on the seventh day though, that craving was entering his mind again, the need to kill, and murder, and commit sin. Harry woke up that day as usual and for the first time in a week he had a shower and a shave. He felt refreshed and clean as he munched on the breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast that Kreacher had set out for him. Physically he looked calm and in control but mentally Harry was fighting a losing battle. The guilt and anguish he had felt had been wiped away and all he felt was this craving. It was like an unquenchable thirst and an insatiable hunger. It tore at him mentally till he was wringing his wrists and sweating as if he was a drug addict waiting for his next fix.

Harry had looked outside in the hope of finding a Death Eater spying on him but sadly he found none. He did not know how he was going to defeat Voldemort and the Death Eaters while in this state. Finally though he just gave in just like last time and decided to apparate to the forest that Hermione, Ron, and he had camped in. He thought that he would kill a few of the animals there and sate the craving.

Hermione Granger was a woman on a mission. She was currently sitting at the kitchen table in Shell Cottage eating her breakfast of cereal and orange juice. As she ate her food in silence her mind was abuzz with what she was going to do later on in the day. She planned on apparating back to the camp site where they last were and she hoped and prayed that she would find Harry there.

Bill and Fleur had tried to oppose her decision but she had relented and they eventually gave in although both were rather worried about her. During her stay at Shell Cottage Hermione had found that Fleur was in fact not a bad person at all. She had helped Hermione by listening to her talk about what she had done with Ron and had given her some advice about what to do.

Hermione finished her breakfast and placed her dishes into the wash basin, then went back to her room and got her coat and a pair of gloves as the weather was rather cold. Hermione walked out of the cottage and stood watching the rough sea breaking against the rocks causing the water to fly in the air, she breathed in the fresh sea air and closed her eyes as she tried to save the image and the smell of this peaceful place. Hermione knew that once she apparated away she would not know what she was getting into and that she might die in this war, so she savored the moment for a while.

She walked towards the boundary of the house and stepped across breathing in deeply as she was now out of the protected area. She looked back at Shell Cottage where she saw Fleur standing outside watching her, Hermione gave her a nod and apparated away with a slight crack.

She had her eyes closed as she waited for the feeling of apparition to disappear without leaving her nauseous. Hermione slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was in a small clearing in the middle of the forest. The ground was covered in snow and the trees as well. She scouted around looking for any sign or any familiar object for her to deduce if she was at the right place.

Hermione walked around the area and realized that it was indeed the right place as she saw that there was a small shrub that she remembered from before. She even sensed the wards that she had put up herself. Oddly enough though she could not see the tent or in fact any clues that anyone had been staying there at all. At first Hermione thought that Harry had set up new wards, but when she crossed her original wards she still could not see the tent.

Hermione looked around the ground and saw that there were also no footprints beside her own new ones. She started panicking at what to do, and feelings of despair and sadness entered her heart; what if she would never see Harry again, where could he have gone to? Questions flew through her head at warp speed and she started feeling overwhelmed.

Hermione closed her eyes and took in a few deep breaths calming herself down. She slowed down her thinking and began to think rationally. She realized that of course Harry would not stay there any longer, as he would not have trusted them after what they had done to him. Also there was hardly any food when they left, so he must have moved to another area closer to a muggle town. With all that running through her mind Hermione nodded to herself that Harry had just moved on and was not dead somewhere in a gutter. She made up her mind to go back to Shell cottage and wait there, maybe some news would come through about Harry.

She started walking back towards the spot she had apparated to but something caught her eye in the white snow. It was at the area where the tent mouth had been situated, and where they would light their fires. The thing that caught her eye was that the snow around that area was different, and looked as though it were contaminated.

Curious Hermione made her way towards it and to her surprise she saw that there was a patch of ground in the middle of the contaminated snow that had no snow at all. She knelt down and examined the area, she saw two patches of some dried red substance. Wondering what on earth it was and not coming up with anything conclusive, she cast an identifying spell to check what it was. When the spell gave its diagnosis Hermione's heart skipped a beat and her blood ran cold, the substance was blood.

Her breathing quickened as she forced herself to remember if she or Ron had ever cut themselves outside, she prayed that she would find a memory but to no avail. Tears welled up in her eyes as Hermione realized that the blood must have been Harry's. The blood was in two patches and subconsciously, Hermione realized that he must have been sitting there, and most probably slit his wrists. Her heart tore to pieces and anguish and horror filled her mind. She felt disgusted with herself at what she had done and what her actions had caused Harry to do.

Tears flowed down Hermione's face, and she started sobbing loudly as she realized that she would never be able to tell him that she loved him, she would never be able to beg for forgiveness and she would never see him again.

Hermione collapsed onto the ground crying her heart out, the snow from the ground causing her clothes to become wet but she did not care, her love was dead and it was all her fault. Trembling she woke up and realized that she should tell Bill and Fleur the news so that they could warn the others. Her tears blurred her vision and as she wiped them off with her hands she heard a seedy male voice coming from behind her

"Well…well…well what do we have here boys, a poor lonely lass crying her heart out."

She turned around and caught a glimpse of three men standing together but her world turned to darkness as a stunner hit her in the chest.

^v^

Slowly and groggily Hermione woke up wondering what the hell just happened. She tried to lift up her arms but it seemed as if something was holding them down. She opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times to clear her view; when she peered ahead she felt fear like she had never felt before. She saw that two men were currently holding her hands down while the other was kneeling in between her legs. She tried to get up but the two men just pushed her down and one of them slapped her across the face. With her right cheek stinging from the smack she started screaming for help.

The one kneeling in front of her laughed at her and said "No one's going to hear you love. There is only you and us out here."

He then took out a long thin deadly looking knife and ran it along her cheek down to her neck; she shivered at the coldness of the steel as it glided across her skin. He grabbed the top of her jacket and ripped it open, snapping all the buttons; inside she was just wearing a t-shirt and her bra. He then ran the knife across her throat causing a slight red line to appear. Hermione flinched away as she struggled to escape again. Tears were now pouring down her face as she came to the realization that her innocence was going to be taken away by these three men, no not men but monsters. Her heart thumped in her chest and her mind was spinning as she felt terror and despair.

Hermione closed her eyes as she felt the knife tip at the top of her t-shirt. The man ran the knife down slicing it open revealing her black bra and her smooth silky skin. All three men groaned as they realized that they would soon be having fun with this witch. The man in front of her bent down and licked her collar bone moaning in pleasure as he tasted her. He then gripped the strap of material holding the bra together and ripped it apart, exposing her breasts to the cool air. Her pink nipples hardened in the cool air becoming like pebbles. The men became restless at how slow the guy in the middle was taking and told him to hurry up. He flicked her nipples a couple of times and gripped her breast painfully, he laughed before trying to unbuckle her jeans. Hermione just closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen as she conceded losing all feeling and thought.

^v^

A crack disturbed the silence of the forest as Harry Potter apparated into an empty clearing. He looked around and realized that it was a clearing close to the one he camped in. Harry looked around seeking any living creature to kill, he scanned the trees, the ground, and the sky but found nothing. It was as if the forest was completely empty. Harry wanted to shout out in frustration but stopped when he heard a loud barking laugh. Someone was close, someone he could kill. Harry followed the sound and ran through the trees and shrubs not caring that he was getting cut and scratched by the branches. Finally he jumped into a clearing and immediately saw where the sound was coming from. He saw that two men were holding down a teenage girl while a third had his pants down and was about to rip off the girls knickers.

The men were so busy with what they were doing that they never even noticed him, they never stood a chance. Harry flicked his wrist and stunned all three men causing them to fly across the clearing and smash into the trees. He then caused ropes to bind them and gag them.

Harry walked closer to the girl and saw that she was almost completely naked. He looked at her face and got a complete shock, it was Hermione. He just stared at her in shock, wondering what the hell she was doing there.

As he mulled this over, his eyes lowered and gazed upon her body, she was a goddess. Her skin was pale and looked smooth and silky. Her breasts were of a perfect size and her nipples seemed to beg you to lick them. He looked lower and saw her knickers lowered slightly revealing a small bush of curly brown hair and finally to complete the package she had a pair of long and creamy slender legs. Harry shook his head and walked forward to help her but suddenly the voice returned in his head "Harry, what are you doing? You have such a great chance here and you want to let it go to waste?"

"What the hell are you talking about? I am not going to take advantage of her." Harry shouted back angrily in his mind.

"You know you want to Harry. Think about it, she has been with the weasel and most probably fucked him. You will never get a chance like this again." the dark voice said

Harry's eyes darkened as he imagined what Ron and Hermione must have done after they had left him "Hmm maybe you are right. Maybe this will be my only chance."

"Yes Harry fuck her. She will never know it is you." the voice tempted

Harry walked towards her and saw that she had passed out. He knelt before her and ran a finger slightly across her body indulging in her silky skin. But when he looked at face he snapped out of his funk and quickly stood up. He then spoke to the voice "No I will not do it. She will be mine, then I will have her."

The voice snorted at him and disappeared from his mind. Harry levitated Hermione off of the ground, and cast a drying and warming charm on her. He then repaired all her clothes and put them back on leaving her fully clothed.

"Kreacher." He shouted.

Immediately the old elf popped into the clearing. He looked around and his big eyes bulged out as he saw Hermione. "Kreacher I want you to take Hermione back to the house and put her in the master bedroom. I want you to give her a dreamless sleep potion and make sure that she stays warm at all time."

The elf just nodded at him and snapped his fingers causing Hermione to disappear along with him.

Harry looked up at the three gagged and bound men lying on the ground on the other side of the clearing. He walked towards them, his shoes making a crunching noise as he walked over the snow. He saw that the two men that had been holding down Hermione were starting to stir, but that the other guy, who appeared to be the leader, was still unconscious. He re-stunned the leader making sure that he was properly knocked out as he planned on taking him home for interrogation. The other two though had completely woken up and were thrashing about in fear and terror as they saw Harry standing over them.

He levitated them into the air and froze their bodies so that they could not move. He then removed their gags and immediately the two started screaming for help.

"Silence." Harry shouted at them, his eyes turning red again.

The two men immediately kept quiet and stared at Harry in utmost terror. One of them even had tears running down his face.

Harry started pacing in front of the men and began talking to them "You people have made me very angry. The reason for this is because the woman you were about to rape was the woman that I loved. For that I am going to kill you, very slowly and very painfully."

The men started pleading with him and begging for forgiveness but all their pleas fell on deaf ears. Harry slowly lifted his hands causing all the stones and anything heavy to levitate off the ground into the air.

Soon there was a swirling mass of debris circling the men and Harry. The two men looked on in awe at Harry's power, and looked on powerlessly as they knew that they were going to die soon. Harry then thrust his palms forward in the direction of the two men causing the mass of debris to hurtle towards them, it smashed into their bodies, battering them and ripping them apart. The mass of debris totally covered the men and blocked Harry's view of what was happening. After a few minutes Harry waved his hand causing the debris to slowly fall to the ground.

As Harry's magic was still holding them up in the air, the two men looked to be untouched but as soon as he released the spell their bodies exploded in a mass of blood, gore and bones. It rained down upon the clearing causing the snow to turn blood red. Harry just closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of it hitting his face and skin.

With a smirk on his face Harry walked towards the leader who was still unconscious. Harry flipped him around so that he could not see him and enervated him causing him to wake up. Harry then whispered in his ear the address to Grimauld Place and then stunned him again. Harry then gripped him by the hair and looked around the clearing one last time before apparating to Grimauld Place with a crack.

^v^

Harry entered the warm house and dragged his captive towards the kitchen by the hair. He pushed the prisoner into the same chair that he tortured Blaise in, and bound him to it. Harry sat down on another chair and watched the man before him. He had pale skin, dirty brown hair with some stubble on his chin, and his eyes were like ice blue crystals. The clothes he wore seemed mismatched and would not have looked out of place on a homeless man.

Harry enervated him and watched as he slowly woke up. The man lifted his head blinking a few times to clear his sight as he looked around the room. He saw Harry watching him and immediately his face contorted into an ugly look with a sneer on his face.

"Well…well…well Harry Potter, the boy who lived. You will pay for what you have done. You made me loose such a good opportunity with that bitch."

Harry just stared at him with emotionless eyes, his face void of any emotions as well. He then spoke quietly to the man "That bitch has a name, Hermione Granger. She was once a good friend of mine and I once loved her."

The man smirked at him "Really Potter, does it irk you that I touched her before you. Imagine if you had not come to her rescue, right now I would have been buried deep in her delicious twat, fucking the shit out of her. Then I am sure the other two blokes would have been plowing her other holes."

Out of nowhere pain erupted in the left side of the man's face as Harry punched him. He saw stars in his vision and tasted the metallic taste of blood. He shook his head and spat out the blood on the floor then he looked at Harry with a sneer.

"Come on Potter, I am sure you can do better than that. Old Scabior here can take anything you can throw at him. But make it quick, I need to kill you and find that bitch and screw her to death"

Harry just tilted his head to the side and raised his hand up, his palm facing Scabior.

"Crucio."

Pain erupted throughout Scabior's body. He had been placed under this curse before by Bellatrix LeStrange but this was a hundred times worse. It felt as if his whole body was on fire and as if it was freezing all at the same time. Every inch of his body was in pain causing him to buck up in his seat. His screams reflected around the room which was music to Harry's ears.

After a few seconds Harry stopped the curse allowing Scabior to calm down as he slumped in his seat panting for air. He twitched every now and again as his nerves were still sensitive from the overload of pain.

"What are you? I mean you are certainly not a Death Eater, so what job do you do? At times like these the only people walking about without a care in the world are the Death Eaters."

Scabior just panted for air still in pain. Slowly he brought his head up and looked at Harry in the eye and spat some blood onto his face.

"Fuck you Potter. I'm not telling you anything."

Harry gave him a slight smile and said "Suit yourself. Just know that the longer you hold out, the longer the torture will be."

Harry then got up and walked towards the pantry. Inside he found a bag of salt which he took back to Scabior. He ripped open the back of Scabior's clothes causing his back to be exposed. Harry then got the knife that he had used on Blaise, and made long incisions along Scabior's back. Blood leaked out as Harry carved into the flesh like a skilled surgeon. Scabior just winced every time the metal touched his flesh; he did not want to give Harry the pleasure of hearing him scream. Alas though that all went out the window when Harry ripped open the bag of salt and poured out its contents onto Scabior's back.

Screams ripped through his throat as pain erupted from the open wounds on his back; it felt as if it was burning right through his skin. Harry just laughed at him and walked back to the front of him and sat down.

"You know Scabior I can make all the pain go away you just have to talk to me." Harry said nonchalantly as he inspected his finger nails.

"Never Potter." Scabior screamed trying to fight the pain.

Annoyed Harry used his magic to force the salt to go deeper into his skin causing the pain to triple. The pain grew so much that Scabior passed out. Harry enervated him and healed his back "Come now Scabior, I am sure that you don't want to be in more pain so why don't you tell me your secrets."

Defeated Scabior hung his head down and winced in pain before he muttered "Fine. I am part of a new program called the Snatcher program. You see the Dark Lord realized that the only people to ever speak his name were from the Order of the Phoenix. So he is devising a system where if anyone says his name they can be immediately tracked and all protective wards will fall around them. The snatchers are the people sent to pick them up."

Harry looked thought full at this new information before asking "And where would you take these people to?"

"We take them to where all prisoners are taken. Malfoy Manor." Scabior said

"Are there currently any prisoners there?" asked Harry

"Yes, there are currently two, Ollivander and some Lovegood girl."

Harry's head snapped up at the mention of Lovegood and realized that it must be Luna; sweet Luna was currently a prisoner at Malfoy Manor.

"What about Bellatrix and Vold…You Know Who. Have you ever seen them talking about anything of significance."

Scabior looked up deep in thought before replying "Yes, a week ago when I brought the Lovegood girl to the Manor I overheard the Dark Lord and LeStrange talking. He had given her a sword to put into her vault in Gringotts. He also was questioning her about a special cup that he asked her to keep safe years ago. Apparently this cup was extremely important to him and is also in the LeStrange vault."

"Interesting, tell me about Luna and Ollivander, what are the Death Eaters doing to them?" asked Harry

Scabior smirked "Ollivander I would not know, but I am sure that the girl is providing some entertainment for the men if you know what I mean."

Harry glared at him angrily. He then grabbed the knife and slit Scabior's throat. Scabior gasped in pain and started gasping, trying to breath. Blood gushed out of the wound spraying onto Harry, causing his face to become a crimson mask. As Scabior slowly died a painful death, Harry banished his body and cleaned both himself and the room. The craving disappeared as Scabior's life had left his eyes. Surprisingly Harry did not even feel remotely guilty or remorseful, he shrugged and thought it most probably because he was getting used to it.

Harry sat down back on his chair, deep in thought, totally lost to the outside world. The cup, which cup was so important to Voldemort that he had it kept safe in Gringotts. And then it hit him, Hufflepuff's cup, the one that Hepzibah Smith had, it must be a Horcrux. He had to find a way to get to the vault. Maybe tomorrow he would visit Malfoy Manor and Gringotts.

^v^

Hermione Granger woke up with a groan. Her head was spinning as she struggled to remember what had happened to her. Her limbs felt like they weighed a ton as she struggled to sit up. She opened her eyes and saw that she was currently lying down on top a comfortable bed in what appeared to be the master bedroom in Grimauld Place. Memories flooded her mind as she remembered what had happened before she blacked out in the clearing. Panic and anguish overcame her as she did a physical check over herself. Oddly enough she felt fine, there seemed to be not a scratch on her but she could have sworn that the men had bruised her a few times. Then she remembered briefly seeing someone else enter the clearing and stun the men before she passed out.

Hermione gingerly got up wondering how she had wound up in this house. She looked down and saw that her clothes had been removed and that she was actually wearing a pair of boy's pajama pants and an old Quidditch jersey.

Hermione stumbled along and stepped out into the corridor. Her bare feet hardly making a sound as she walked along the carpeted floor making her way downstairs in the hope of finding out who saved her. As she walked she noticed that the walls were cleaner and the house had a more homely feel to it. The silence of the house was deafening. As she walked she became more and more nervous as there seemed to be not a soul in the house.

She crept down the stairs slowly making sure not to wake up Mrs. Black's portrait and made her way to the kitchen. She saw the light illuminating from the doorway and made her way into the room. As she entered her eyes locked onto the one person she wanted to see most on this earth, Harry Potter was sitting at the kitchen table.

Without a second thought she ran towards him, Harry came out of his musing and noticed her running towards him, surprise etched on his face. As he stood up Hermione reached him and hugged him for dear life, she clung on to him as if he was a life line.

After a few seconds Hermione noticed that Harry was not hugging her back but was in fact just standing stock still. Slowly she stepped back from him and looked him in the eye. There was nothing there, his usual sparkling green eyes, which were once filled with life and happiness were now replaced by a dark green orbs which spoke of pain, darkness and death.

Harry just stared at her causing her to become more and more nervous.

"Why?" he asked in a deadpan voice devoid of all emotion.

Hermione flinched at his voice and tried to think of what to say, how was she to explain why she left. "I…I don't know."

"Tell me, do you know what you did to me when you chose him?" his voice hardening slightly.

Hermione just stood there unable to answer him stuttered out "I was a fool Harry. I made the wrong choice. Please Harry I'm so sorry."

Suddenly Harry smashed his fist against the wooden table causing her to jump up in surprise and shock, when she saw Harry though that turned to fear as she saw the anger in his eyes.

"You are sorry. While you were busy with your idiot boyfriend, probably shagging him, I was suffering in that damn tent, alone and desperate." Harry screamed at her.

Hermione shrank back in fear as she saw him vent out his anger at her but she steeled herself as she knew that she deserved it.

Harry walked towards her and lifted his hand and for a second Hermione thought that he was going to hit her but he just lowered his sleeves to show her to odd signs that were burnt into his wrist.

"Do you see this? This was caused because of you. You drove me to this."

Hermione stared at the signs and whispered out in a small quite voice "What is it?"

"This is the sign of the devil. You see after you left, I had nothing, I was hopeless, the one person that I truly loved had betrayed me. So I slit my wrists, I committed suicide. I could not bear to live in this god forsaken world anymore, I just wanted out."

Harry stopped talking and walked towards one of the cabinets lining the walls; he came back with a bottle of firewhisky and began drinking from the bottle. Hermione meanwhile was standing in complete horror at what Harry had just said, what had she done, she had caused this. Tears cascaded down her face unnoticed by her.

"Then as I was about to die he came, the devil. He had come to take my soul away, to Hell where all suicides go. But instead He made a deal with me; if I helped to get rid of You Know Who then my time in the afterlife would be more pleasant."

"Ther…There must be a cure, I am sure we can save you. There has to be something in the library." Hermione stuttered.

With that Harry gave a hallow laugh and finished the bottle which he threw onto the wall smashing it into bits. "There is a book in the Black library; it tells you all about what happens when you make a deal with Him, the hunger to kill, the anger, the hatred. It consumes you."

His anger now dissipated, his features softened a bit as he looked at Hermione standing there with tears streaming down her face. He shook his head and walked towards the door and at the doorway he stopped and spoke to her in a calm voice "You should get some sleep, we will talk more tomorrow. Also, do not worry about what happened today, those men did not do anything to you and will never do anything to you again because I have killed them."

With that he was gone. Hermione stumbled towards a chair and collapsed in it. Tears streamed down her face as she replayed what he had said to her. Her heart was now in pieces as she felt guilt and regret. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed loudly.

Hermione sat and cried there for 5 long minutes before she got up, and dragged herself up the stairs as if in auto pilot and into the room she had used back in fifth year. As she got under the covers she remembered that Harry had said something when he was shouting at her. He had said that the person that he loved had betrayed him. She sat up in shock. Harry had loved her. He had actually loved her. With that in mind Hermione promised that tomorrow she would try to find a cure for him in that book and that even if he did not speak to her again she would always love him.

**Please R&R and thank you for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Harry Potter J.K Rowling does.**

**Thanks goes to MariusDarkwolf for editing this chapter.**

Lord Voldemort was puzzled; he did not like to be puzzled because when he was puzzled he tended to kill people. The reason for his puzzlement was one Harry Potter. That infernal boy was nowhere to be found. He had sent his men to scour the entire country but they all turned up empty handed, he had his men wait outside Potter's house to see if he ever went there but they never saw hide nor hair of him, and he had even set up that damn Taboo to see if they could capture Harry if he said his name, but still nothing.

Voldemort growled in frustration and sent a _reducto_ to one of the ornate cabinets in the Malfoy Manor drawing room causing it to explode in a fountain of glass, wood and other odds and ends. The Death Eaters in the room all shivered at their master's anger praying, that he would not shower his wrath on them. Voldemort stood up from his throne like chair, which was situated near the large fireplace, and walked towards the large French windows. He stared outside and watched the setting sun lighting up the sky in a pink hue and wondered again where the hell was Harry Potter.

Harry Potter woke up with a groan. He pulled up the covers and pulled it over his head trying to block out the morning sun coming from the window. Kreacher had as usual, opened up the curtains and gave his usual greeting, informing Harry that breakfast would soon be ready. Unable to fall back to sleep, Harry threw the covers off himself and got of the bed, stumbling sleepily towards his bathroom.

Oddly enough he had had quite a good night sleep. Ever since he made the deal he had had no visions or any emotions coming from the scar. It was as if it had been closed permanently. He was not complaining as he was finally getting some good rest.

He stepped into the shower and allowed the hot water to sooth his muscles, he scrubbed himself thoroughly as while his magic had removed all traces of blood from last night's torture it still left one feeling unclean.

Harry got out of the shower, put on some clean clothes, and went downstairs for breakfast. As he walked he began to wonder what he was going to say to Hermione. Last night he had vented his anger at her and now he was confused. He did not know what to do with her. He realized that she had come back for him, but the problem was that she had left in the first place. Sure he still loved her but now he did not know if he could trust her again.

Harry came out of his deep thoughts and saw that he had wound up at the kitchen door and with mild trepidation he opened it. To his surprise it was void of Hermione; there was only his breakfast on the table. He ate in silence and wondered where his house mate was currently at as she usually was the one to be up early.

After finishing his breakfast he got up and began wondering around the house looking for Hermione. Finally as he came to the third floor he noticed the library door open and realized that Hermione was probably there reading **that** book.

He took a deep breath and stepped into the room. His eyes scanned the room from left to right. He saw the fireplace had been lit and gave the room warmth, and the gas lamps lining the walls were all lit, lighting the room. His eyes then finally rested on her. She was sitting at one of the small oak desks and was busy writing down notes on some parchment while simultaneously reading from a book. The only sound coming from the room was from the scratching of her quill. Harry leaned against the door frame and folded his arms and started at Hermione. He watched her scrutinize the pages from the book carefully and jot down her notes at warp speed. He watched how she bit her bottom lip whenever she was deep in thought, it was mesmerizing.

Hermione Granger carefully read the tiny print on the rather old and worn pages from the book Harry had told her about. She had woken up extremely early and had a quick wash up and a small breakfast. She had promised herself that she was going to find a cure for Harry and set out to find it as soon as possible. She had then gone to the library and took over one of the small study tables and began studying the book.

That book, it made her shudder whenever she touched it, it was the pinnacle of darkness. It had things in it that no sane man would dare attempt; it had spells that only the insane would cast, spells that made the Unforgivables seem like mere tickling charms. Then there were the rituals, the things that they required nearly made her throw up in horror.

Finally after much searching she had found the chapter explaining about Harry's predicament. Hermione had paled considerably when she read about all the pro's and con's about it, and she had cried when she realized that it was because of her that this had happened. She had jotted down all the important notes that she could make out and had hoped to show it to Harry when he finally woke up. She hoped that after him shouting at her and venting his anger last night that he would at least talk to her. It would be a start, in her opinion, towards repairing their broken friendship. These thoughts ran through her mind as she wrote down her notes, when suddenly a rustling noise distracted her making her look up, and see Harry standing in the doorway leaning against the door frame watching her with an impassive face.

They both watched each other, staring into each other's eyes. The silence stretched on as the tension grew palpable. Hermione grew nervous as she looked into the depts. of Harry's eyes. What was he doing, what was he going to say, these thoughts ran through her mind as she sat there.

Finally Harry broke the silence "What have you found out?"

Hermione came out of her thoughts and muttered "Wha?"

Harry gave a small smirk and said "From the book, have you found out anything useful?"

Hermione scrambled about the small table moving about the loose pages and books trying to orient herself. "Ye…yes there is quite a bit written regarding your predicament. Although I have not yet to finish the book I have written down the main things about it."

Harry looked at her and nodded slowly, he stood up straight and turned around planning on going to his room but as he stepped out of the library Hermione voiced a question "How did you control it? The craving, it says that the person will always get a craving and has to sate it otherwise he would go insane. What did you do?"

Harry stopped in his tracks and turned around and looked at Hermione with pain filled eyes.

"I had to kill. The first time it happened there was a Death Eater outside, Blaise Zabini, I stunned him and brought him into the house and killed him. For an entire week after that, I was in complete despair, every time I closed my eyes I saw his body, I heard his screams, it drove me mad. The second time was when I found you. Those three men helped sated the craving and oddly enough I feel no remorse."

Hermione looked at him with Horror and before Harry knew what was happening Hermione had him in a tight hug. At first he flinched and stiffened but after a while he loosened up and hugged her back. He felt her tears through his robe and felt her body racking with silent sobs. Harry lowered his head into her hair and inhaled her scent, it intoxicated him. He breathed in deeply and gripped her even more tightly. For some reason as he held on to her a small glimmer of hope erupted in him, maybe just maybe he might have a chance.

It had been two days since the day they had the conversation in the library, and the atmosphere in the house had lightened considerably. The relationship between the two had begun the repairing process that day, but it was still a long way to get to where it was before. Both realized this and were trying their hardest to mend it. Although Harry still hadn't fully forgiven her, and was prone to do things on his own and not talk to Hermione over long periods of time.

Now though Harry was feeling restless. He had the information on the whereabouts of the next Horcrux, but he couldn't do anything. It was in Gringotts, in the LeStrange vault, which was one of the most highly guarded vaults there. It seemed impossible to get to but time was running short, and drastic measures had to be taken. The snatcher had spoken of Bellatrix being at Malfoy Manor and now he had to find a way to get there. She was his only way into the vault.

Harry had still not told Hermione about the information he had, and realized that it would be best to tell her and get her view point on it. And so he now found himself trudging along the threadbare carpets making his way to the library, which now seemed to be Hermione's room. She had been stuck in that room and refused to leave it, constantly pouring over the books and constantly writing down notes. He had tried to get a word out of her but she did not say anything about how far she had gone and how much progress she had made.

He entered the room and saw that she was standing beside the window staring outside, watching the snow fall slowly to the ground. Slowly and quietly he crept into the room only to have Hermione ask him softly "Do you know that no two snowflakes are alike? It is quite fascinating, is it not?"

He looked at her and replied "Really, it is quite fascinating."

"So many millions and billions of them floating down to earth, none of them the same. There are quite similar to humans in that respect. No two humans are alike, we are all different no matter how big or how subtle the difference. All of us defined by the choices we make."

Harry slowly walked towards her thinking about what she was saying and said "Yes that is true."

Hermione turned around and faced him and asked him in the same soft quit voice "Why do Death Eaters make their choices? Why do they choose to murder, rape and torture innocent people? How do they live with themselves?"

Harry stopped in his tracks and gave her a sad smile before replying "They are foolish people, led on by a mad man to believe all sorts of lies and deceit. How they live with it, well only they will know."

Silence overcame them as they pondered about the minds of the Death Eaters. Harry then broke the silence by asking "I think I know where the next Horcrux could be but first tell me what new information have you found?"

Hermione looked like she wanted to argue and get the information first but one look at Harry and she knew that she had to speak first. "Well there is still no cure but I have found something interesting. It seems that you have the power to actually summon a creature from hell to help you."

Harry nodded at this and said "Yes I had read that but did not go into much detail."

Hermione went to her desk and rummaged about looking for a specific parchment and read from it "Well there is an incantation that you have to say and then they will somehow arrive through your essence."

"Well it could come in use when we finally go into battle."

"Yes it could, I mean even if it still dark magic we do need all the help we can get. Although there is no specific incantation, it seems that intent is the key. Now tell me what information do you have? "

Harry sighed and sat down in one of the soft chairs "It seems that one of the Horcruxes is in the vault of Bellatrix LeStrange. I interrogated one of the men who had tried to rape you. He told me that he overheard a conversation between Tom and Bellatrix about a special cup that Tom asked Bellatrix to keep safe in her vault. He also told me that there is a Taboo on Tom's name, if anyone had to say it all protections around them would fall, and the Death Eaters would know your location. Apparently they are using it to capture Order members. Also they have Luna and Ollivander as prisoners at Malfoy Manor."

Hermione mulled over this new information and began to think of plans on getting the Horcrux "Well for starters it is impossible to get into the vault with Bellatrix or her husband. Even if we had polyjuice potion and disguised ourselves as her the vault would not let us enter as it checks the magical signature. So we need to kidnap her and to get to her we have to get to Malfoy Manor which must be buzzing with Death Eaters. So now how do we get there?"

Harry to started thinking of the possible ways of gaining entry but all seemed doomed for failure but suddenly he thought of a brilliant idea "Dobby."

Immediately the little elf popped into the room looking around for the one who called him and as soon as his eyes fell upon Harry he immediately smiled and began talking fast "Harry Potter sir is calling Dobby. What can Dobby be doing for Harry Potter sir?"

Harry looked down at the small elf who was bursting with excitement and couldn't help but smile at him "Dobby is there any way for you t take me into Malfoy Manor? I need to get to the dungeon."

Dobby smiled back at him and bounced up and down on the souls of his feet "Yes Harry Potter sir. Dobby can be popping yous into the dungeons. Is Dobby taking yous now?"

Harry shook his head and replied "No not now Dobby but just now. I just need to get ready."

With that Harry got up and went to get ready to leave but he also noticed Hermione getting up as well "Were do you think you are going?"

Shocked at his question Hermione said "I'm coming with you of course."

Harry glared at her and said "No you are not. It is too dangerous. You just stay here."

Hermione glared back at him and said in a dangerous tone "I am coming; I promised you that I will be with you all the way. I broke that promise and it was the worst mistake I have ever made. So I don't care what you say but I will not be leaving you."

Hermione then pushed past him with her head held up high and stalked off to her room. Harry shook his head in disbelief and went to get ready as well. Harry put on a comfortable pair of robes and gathered the knife he had used on the two men he killed; he had grown quit attached to it and he thought of it as a sort of good luck charm. He had also gotten Kreacher to put up to beds for the prisoners at the Manor. Five minutes later he met up with Hermione back in the library where Dobby was still standing and staring around the room with his large tennis ball eyes. They both gave each other glares before grabbing hold of Dobby and popping away to Malfoy Manor.

^v^

Ron Weasley sat on his bed staring at his ceiling bored out of his mind. He had read all his comics and quidditch magazines six times and was sick of them. He had eaten his lunch and half of the chocolate cake his mother had baked until she had chased him away to his room. Now he just lay there thinking how badly life treated him. He had thought that he had finally gotten one over on the great Harry Potter when Hermione had left with him, but it was not to last as she had gone and stayed at Bill's. Hermione was his, why didn't she see that. Anger grew inside him, why did she have to always choose that damn Potter. Sure he was famous, rich and was good looking but that was all. As he lay there his anger grew more and more until he thought of only one thing, She will be mine though, whether she wants to be or not.

^v^

A slight popped signaled the entrance of two humans and a house elf in the dark and damp dungeons of Malfoy Manor. Harry and Hermione stayed still listening to check if their presence was known, and to let their eyes get used to the darkness. Harry cast a silencing charm on his and Hermione's shoes and began exploring the room.

It seemed that they were currently at the entrance of the dungeon which just seemed to be one long corridor with cells on either side. He began walking along the walls peering into each cell to see if there were any inhabitants. All the cells he walked past seemed to be either empty or had a few dead bodies in them. Finally he arrived at the end of the long corridor and saw that in the last cell there seemed to be some light coming from it. Silently he crept up to it with Hermione trailing behind him. He looked into the cell and saw that Ollivander was in the back of the cell leaning against the wall and he appeared to be unconscious. In the center of the cell he saw that Luna was lying on the floor bruised and battered and a Death Eater hovering over her attempting to remove his pants.

Anger flooded Harry's veins, but as he was about to curse the man a red light flew from behind him and hit the man in the back, causing him to fall unconscious. He looked behind and saw that Hermione was standing there, with her wand held tightly in her hand and panting slightly. Her eyes held a fury that he had never seen before, then remembered that not so long ago she was in the same situation so it was obvious that she would be affected by what she saw. Cautiously he opened the cell door and entered. He walked over to Luna and saw that she too was knocked out. Carefully he enervated her and saw her slowly open her eyes and when they met his she smiled and said "I knew you would come Harry Potter."

He smiled down at her and whispered the address to Grimauld Place into her ears, and told Dobby to take her away. He did so with a small pop and as Harry stood to check on Ollivander, he noticed Hermione standing over the unconscious Death Eater. Silently he watched her boot the man until he was facing the ceiling, where he could see that it was one Nott Sr. With a snarl Hermione booted him in his genital region smashing it with her boots. She then flicked her wand and blood soaked into his robes from his groin, she had castrated him.

Harry watched all this go on in silence and without commenting. He nodded to himself and walked towards Ollivander where he did the same as he did with Luna. Silence reigned over the cell as Dobby popped away Ollivander; Harry looked towards Hermione and saw that she was still staring at the man, watching him bleed to death. Harry walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her causing her to melt into him. She clung onto him and got her breathing under control.

"Do you want to go? Dobby can take you if you want?" Harry asked her with concern.

Hermione hastily let go of him and took in a deep breath and replied in a steely tone "No I am fine. Let's just get this over with."

She then proceeded out of the cell and started to make her way to the entrance of the dungeon with Harry following closely behind. Slowly and cautiously they crept up the stairs with Harry on point. As they ascended more and more gas lamps littered the walls, giving them a better view of the surroundings. Finally they made their way to the top of the stairs, and found themselves at a large iron door.

Slowly and carefully Harry opened the door and peeped into the room. He saw that it was what appeared to be a large living room with luxurious furniture, expensive carpet, and some exquisite paintings. It seemed that they had hit the jackpot though as the only occupant of the room seemed to be Bellatrix LeStrange. She was sitting on one of the couches with her back turned to them lazily playing with her hair. Harry opened the door carefully but it snagged on the carpet and made a slight noise. He froze in place as Bellatrix stopped what she was doing and said in her maniacal voice "Finished already Nott. What, the girl getting too much for you?"

Harry strode into the room and with a well aimed punch at the back of her head knocked Bellatrix off the couch and onto the floor. She scrambled to get up and when she lifted her head she was shocked to see Harry Potter looking down at her, and the mudblood not far behind him. She cursed herself for not having her wand on her and sneered up at Harry and spat out "Well…well…well Harry Potter how nice to see you. You know my master has been looking for you for a long time and I'm sure that he will reward me well when I hand you over to him."

Harry smirked at her and flicked his wrist causing her to fly into one of the cabinets smashing into the glass, ripping into her skin and shredding her robes. Harry walked over to her and said "No Bella. That really won't work at all. You see I am here for you. I have a job which requires your expertise."

Slowly Bellatrix got up with blood dripping from her cuts. She gave Harry a smile and began laughing like an insane maniac "Really Potter. I'm afraid that your plan just will not work, because you see, I have friends."

With that said Bellatrix stood up and did two things at an incredible speed. One she threw a knife straight at Hermione, and the other she hit a rune that was close to her, causing an alarm to go off. Harry watched in slow motion as the knife flew through the air spinning as it made its way to its intended target. Hermione just stood there, frozen in place staring at the knife, but as the knife was about to hit her, a slight pop was heard. Harry watched on in horror as Dobby the house elf popped in front of Hermione and took the knife straight in the chest.

Time seemed to speed up as Harry watched his friend slowly fall to the ground, with blood starting to seep out of the wound. Death Eaters flooded the room but Harry could do nothing as he just stared at his friend slowly bleed to death. Numbly he felt two Death Eaters hold him and forcing him to kneel onto the ground and at the back of his mind he could hear Bellatrix and Lucius arguing among themselves.

It was then that something cracked within him. Anger grew in him and he started struggling against his captors. He screamed out in rage and his eyes flashed a red hue. Then something extraordinary happened that caused all the occupants of the room to freeze. The two marks on Harry's wrists simply slit open and out flowed out a red powder-like substance. It joined together in front of Harry and started swirling around like a tornado until it reached the height of a man.

The cuts immediately healed, and Harry saw that the swirling cloud was actually starting to take the shape of a human figure. By this time Harry's captors had let go of him and had backed away. The red human shaped cloud started turning into liquid, which then transformed into flesh and bone. It was like seeing someone being made in front of their eyes. Soon there in front of him was a naked woman. Her body was perfect in every way, without any flaws. Her head was bowed down hiding her face with her long hair. Clothes seemed to form from out of nowhere and covered up only her important bits, but still leaving nothing to the imagination.

Slowly she lifted her head and pushed her hair out of the way revealing her face. Harry gasped as he saw that she looked almost exactly like Hermione with the exception of her eyes, which were yellow and had slit pupils. She gave a small giggle and said in a throaty tone "Master has called. What does master need?"

By now most of the Death Eaters had fled the room leaving behind a select few. Harry looked around and saw that all of them were just staring at the woman in complete shock so he used that to his advantage. Quickly he got up and pointed to the guys holding the real Hermione "Kill them."

Quick as a flash the devil Hermione had both men by their throats. A quick squeeze and a snapping sound signaled that she had killed them. Harry screamed for Kreacher and told him to take Dobby and go. Harry then grabbed onto the real Hermione and a still stunned Bellatrix and apparated out of the building smashing through all the wards in the process.

Harry found himself in the kitchen of Grimauld Place, and surprisingly Bellatrix was allowed through the wards as well, he didn't stop to bother but quickly stunned her and ran to check up on Dobby with Hermione hot on his heels. Finally he reached the landing of the second floor and entered the room designated for Luna and Ollivander. Hurriedly he opened the door and entered the room looking about wildly for Dobby. Harry saw that Kreacher had made a small bed for Dobby and slowly Harry made his way over to him. His heart soared as he saw the little elf's chest rising slowly, he was still alive. Harry looked around the room and saw that Luna and Ollivander were both looking much better and were currently sleeping in their beds.

Beside him Kreacher popped and croaked out "The two humans are doing quite well now and yous is lucky that yous called Kreacher for Dobby. If yous have waited a minute more Dobby would have died."

Harry sighed with relief and thanked Kreacher. He turned around and saw that Hermione was looking at him with a small smile on her face. He went over to her and hugged tightly giving her a small kiss on the top of her head.

They then made their way downstairs to the kitchen where they saw that the devil Hermione had arrived somehow and was currently relaxing on one of the chairs watching Bellatrix.

"Who are you? What are you?" Harry asked her.

She smirked up at him and replied "I am a demon from hell. As you have made a deal with my king you are entitled to help. I came to your aid when you most needed it."

Hermione looked at her and said "Why do you look like me?"

Devil Hermione laughed and said "Because I thought it would be funny."

Harry looked at her in annoyance before turning his full attention to the unconscious Bellatrix. They had actually done it, they had kidnapped Bellatrix LeStrange, one of the most insane Death Eaters and most powerful. Now all they had to do was go to Gringotts and get the damn cup from her vault.

**Please R&R and thank you for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

Two days had passed since their mission to Malfoy Manor and they had yet to hatch a plan to get to Gringotts. They had kept Bellatrix locked up and sedated 24\7 as it would not do them any good if they suddenly found themselves at her mercy while they slept. Luna and Ollivander both had not yet fully recovered from their time in Malfoy Manor and spent most of their time sleeping.

Dobby also had not fully recovered but was on his feet and helping around the house when needed. The devil Hermione had disappeared a few hours after she was summoned and Hermione had deduced that a demon would only come when needed and leave when not.

So far they had not heard any news through Potter Watch about Bellatrix's disappearance, a radio station run by Lee Jordan and the Order members. Hermione had remembered Bill telling her about it when she was staying at his house and had soon figured out the password to the station. It seemed that the Death Eaters were keeping quiet about the kidnapping as it seemed that they did not want the people to know about any weaknesses they had.

Throughout the two days, Harry had been getting increasingly restless and wanted to just go and get the Horcrux. The only thing stopping him though was Hermione constantly telling him not to be foolish and ruin everything. That was another problem for Harry, Hermione, slowly yet surely they had been getting closer to what they once were before, but now it seemed that when they fought a huge rift erupted between them. It was like they were taking two steps forward but then suddenly taking 4 steps back when they fought. Harry had sat for long hours thinking about their friendship and what was happening between them, he still loved her but did not know what to do now that his life had a rather short time limit.

These thoughts frequently entered his mind and it would have driven him mad if he did not have Bellatrix to release his frustration. Whenever he was bored he would go into the room where they kept Bellatrix and wake her up. He would interrogate her for hours on end, questioning her for any useful information that they could use against Voldemort and the Death Eaters but she wouldn't budge an inch. He had even tried Legalimancy on her but surprisingly, even while using his enhanced powers, still could not get anything out of her. Her mind was a complete mess, you could not make out one thing from another, thoughts and memories were jumbled up and mixed up like a ball of string, impossible to unravel. It was a wonder that she could actually function and think properly let alone be able to cast powerful spells with her mind like that.

Harry was currently sitting in the kitchen idly playing with his lunch of chicken salad that Kreacher had set out for him deep in thought. Now was the time to act, more and more innocent people were dying every day and the sooner that they got Voldemort's Horcruxes the sooner he could defeat him. Yet that was also what was troubling him, what was going to happen to him after he defeated Voldemort. Would he be allowed to live until he died of natural causes or will the Devil come for him immediately after killing Voldemort?

Harry shook filed these thoughts away for the future and finished off his delicious lunch. He stood up and made his way to Hermione. On arriving at the library he saw that Luna was sitting beside Hermione reading and helping her with her notes.

"Hello Luna, how are you feeling?"

Luna looked up from what she was doing, smiled at him and answered "I am fine Harry, thank you for asking. I would also like to thank you for what you did back there. If you did not arrive I believe that I would have killed myself."

Harry gave her a small smile and asked "how did you end up there anyway?"

"Daddy was printing news against the Death Eaters and they did not take a liking to it at all so they kidnapped me from Hogwarts. Since then they have made him print out news that they wanted in exchange for keeping me alive."

"What about Mr. Ollivander. What did they do to him?"

"I don't really know. He was there from before I arrived and they always dragged him upstairs to interrogate him. He never did speak a lot, just mostly slept."

Harry nodded at this and planned on questioning Ollivander later on. He looked at Hermione and asked her "What have you found out so far? We don't have much time to lose, if Tom finds out what we are doing he will take measures to prevent us from getting to the vault. We need to move quickly."

Hermione huffed at him and said "Well from what I can gather it is practically impossible to break into Gringotts. The security they have is unbelievable and without a goblin to help us we will most likely get lost and die down there. Also the Lestrange vault, which the cup should be hidden in, is one of the largest vaults there and would be one of the most highly guarded. Even though we have Bellatrix we cannot just waltz into Gringotts. I am sure that Tom must have them under control and there are probably under lookout for Bellatrix. "

Harry frowned at this and grudgingly accepted this information. It was the perfect place to hide the Horcrux, deep underground, guarded by superb security and in the vault of his most loyal followers who would never betray him. Yet they had to gain access to the damn place. They had to destroy it somehow they had to do it.

^v^

Finally they had a plan, well you couldn't actually call it a plan when all you have is get in and blow shit up. But it was something which was better than nothing. Harry Potter adjusted his cloak and looked at Bellatrix Lestrange who was standing next to him with a blank look on her face. Harry had her under the Imperious curse and they hoped that they would be able to actually get to her vault before any alarm bells rang. For Harry having one of the most evil witches in the world under his control was a bit unnerving and it felt rather odd. There was a feeling in the back of his mind that felt like someone was using Legalimancy on him but it actually felt rather good, it was the connection to Bellatrix and if Harry wanted her to do anything all he had to do was concentrate on that part and tell her what to do in his mind.

They were currently waiting for Hermione in the entrance hall where they were going to apparated to the entrance of Gringotts. Although it was supposed to be impossible Harry felt that with his improved power he would be able to do it. They waited for a few more minutes before Hermione finally came down the stairs with a frown on her face.

"You know Harry I still don't like your plan. I mean what are you going to do once you apparated to the front of Gringotts?"

Harry sighed and answered "I told you well enter under the invisibility cloak with Bellatrix in the front of us and then we will go to her vault."

"That is the most ridiculous plan ever. There are a million things that could go wrong."

Harry groaned in frustration "Well that is all we have and if you don't like it why don't you just stay here?"

Hermione glared at him and pulled the invisibility cloak from her bag before saying "I'm coming because someone has to see that you don't mess up."

Harry shook his head and they both got under the cloak, Harry opened the door and a cold draft entered the house causing the flames in the gas lamps to flicker. He ordered Bellatrix to step outside and they followed her, Harry grabbed onto her and Hermione grabbed onto him and with a deep breath he visualized Gringotts and turned and apparated them away.

If there were anyone wandering the streets of Diagon Alley there would have been immediately alarmed by the presence of one Bellatrix Lestrange but lucky for them the streets were deserted. Harry and Hermione stumbled a bit as they suddenly found themselves on the cobbled street but Hermione grabbed onto Harry and they straightened themselves out. A quick scan of the area found that the street was deserted and that Bellatrix was standing beside them still under the curse.

They slowly made their way to the entrance of Gringotts with Bellatrix leading the way. They walked through the open doors passing the Goblin guards who gave Bellatrix questionable looks. Harry noticed this and realized that maybe the goblins were told about her disappearance. He squeezed Hermione tighter as they walked past and they both held their breaths only releasing a sigh of relief when they made it to the tellers.

Harry commanded Bellatrix to go to a teller and ask for access to her vault. She strode up to the nearest goblin and spoke in her crazy voice "goblin I need to get to my vault."

The goblin's face flashed with shock before transforming back to an annoyed look "Umm very well Mrs. Lestrange but we will need your wand for authentication."

Harry commanded her to give it to the goblin and soon they found themselves sitting on a cart zooming along underground. Harry and Hermione were still under the cloak and where sitting in the back with the goblin and Bellatrix sitting in the front. Harry noticed that the goblin was shooting looks toward Bellatrix and started getting nervous. As they delved deeper underground they rounded a corner and heard an all mighty roar.

The sight in front of them was a sight to behold. There crouching in the cramped cave was a huge Hungarian Horntail. Its lizard like features all too familiar to Harry as it reminded him of the first task of the tri wizard tournament. Hermione gripped his arm tightly and hissed in his ear "What the hell are we going to do now?"

Harry just stared at the dragon; this was certainly not part of his plan. Before he could respond to Hermione the cart came to a halt in front of the Lestrange vault and the goblin got off with Bellatrix. Harry and Hermione scrambled off and as they did that the cloak slipped of Harry's head and he was visible to the goblin for a mere second but that was all that it took for the goblin to see him. Harry threw the cloak of him and pointed his hand towards the goblin and shouted "Imperio."

The goblin's eyes went dull and lifeless as he succumbed to the curse. Hermione looked around wildly as if expecting a horde of goblins to come running towards hell bent on chopping their heads off but thankfully there were none; there were only them, and the dragon who was watching them quietly as if sizing them up as its next meal.

Harry commanded Bellatrix to open the vault and she strode up to the door and held her palm against it and muttered a password 'pureblood'. The door glowed brightly before creaking open revealing a huge cavernous room filled with gold, precious gems and other odds and ends. Harry pushed her aside and tried to enter the vault but as he got to the entrance he could not go any further, it was as if there was an invisible ward blocking him. Hermione came next to him but she was also rebuffed.

Hermione looked at the entrance and said "Hmm there must be a ward that only allows a Lestrange through."

Harry nodded at this and commanded Bellatrix to go through and lo behold she was allowed to pass through. He commanded her to get the cup and after a few minutes she exited the vault with the cup in hand. Harry and Hermione couldn't believe their luck at how easy it was for them to get the Horcrux but as everything in Harry Potter's life something bad always happened. As Bellatrix held the cup in hand it started to vibrate and glow and suddenly a black fog exited from it and entered Bellatrix's mouth. Immediately Harry knew that something was going wrong and he backed away slowly with Hermione. The goblin stood aside still under the curse and unbeknown to the mayhem that was going to unfold.

As they backed away Hermione asked in a panicked voice "What is happening?"

"I don't know. The Horcrux seems to be having some effect on her."

The fog was still flowing from the cup into Bellatrix's mouth and as it stopped Bellatrix dropped the cup and closed her eyes and Harry felt the imperius curse he held over her disappear. After a minute she slowly opened her eyes to reveal that they were know a bright red. In fascination and horror Harry and Hermione watched Bellatrix slowly lift her arms and inspect them and then she slowly inspected her body frowning when she fondled her breast.

After a minute of inspection she looked up and spotted Harry and Hermione and asked them in a hollow male voice that shocked them "Were am I? How did you find me and why am I in a woman's body?"

It then came to Harry in a second that it was actually Voldemort possessing Bellatrix. He looked at her and said "Umm we are in Gringotts. You are in the body of Bellatrix Lestrange."

Voldemort looked at Harry in shock and began fondling his new body, he looked at Harry again and then hissed angrily "And why am I in her body? And who are you?"

"Umm well you see I came here to destroy you actually, as you are one of Tommy boy's Horcruxes. So when Bellatrix held you while you were in the cup you possessed her somehow and that's it."

Voldemort looked at him in complete shock and was about to reach into her robes for Bellatrix's wand when something completely shocking happened. Hermione out of nowhere ran forward and booted Bellatrix in her stomach with all her might. As the possessed Bellatrix was standing at the edge of the pathway she flew backwards. A look of complete shock overcame her face as she flew through the air and as she fell she was rudely introduced to the mouth of a Hungarian Horntail. Harry and Hermione watched in morbid fascination as the dragon chomped on Bellatrix and at her in one gulp. The dragon then went back to its resting place and sat there with what appeared to be a grin on its face and as it sat there Harry and Hermione heard a faint scream coming from its belly.

Still in shock Hermione slowly made her way to the cup and picked it up and inspected it. Harry looked at her in awe and only had one word to say to her "Wow!"

Hermione looked up at him and asked "Did we just destroy the Horcrux?"

Harry nodded at her and said "Yes you just destroyed it. That was amazing."

The next thing Harry knew was that Hermione had her arms wrapped around him and she was laughing and said "We did it; we actually destroyed one of the Horcruxes."

Harry smiled at her antics and slowly she pulled away from him until she was facing him eye to eye. Slowly they both moved closer to each other and slowly Hermione put her hand behind Harry's head and pulled him closer until their lips touched.

To Harry it was heaven, the feel of her soft velvet lips against his was magical. Slowly they deepened the kiss and Hermione moaned into Harry's mouth in pleasure. Harry opened his mouth and ran the tip of his tongue across her lips seeking entrance. She immediately gave in to his probing and allowed him access to her mouth. Their tongues battled each other and their each probed and explored the others mouth. Unfortunately for them they both needed to breathe so they slowly broke apart and stared into the others eyes.

Hermione gave Harry a lazy smile and he returned it. Sadly though all good things must come to an end because as they were kissing Harry somehow broke the imperious curse on the goblin and he came to his scenes and on his return to his senses he immediately pressed a rune in the wall sounding of the intruder alarm.

Harry and Hermione jumped apart at the noise and looked around for the source. They both locked onto the goblin who was now watching them with a scary glint in his eyes and a blade in his hand. The goblin leaped forward with the blade pointed at Hermione's heart. Harry instinctively thrust his hand forward and the goblin was somehow banished towards the dragon who happily gulped down its second meal of the day.

The two of them were now panicking as they looked around for an exit but finding none. As they stood there in a panic they heard a noise and saw that two carts were coming towards them filled with goblins armed to the teeth. Slowly the two of them backed away from the oncoming goblins only to find themselves being closer to the dragon. Then Harry had one of his crazy on the spot ideas, he turned towards the dragon and jumped onto its back. Harry looked back at the now pissed of Hermione and scram out "Jump on; we can use it to escape."

Hermione looked at him as if he was insane and scram back "Are you insane that thing is going to eat us."

The dragon just looked back at them and watched them scream at each other. Hermione stood there unable to make up her mind but when she saw the glint of a blade coming towards her she jumped on next to Harry. Harry then sent spells breaking the chains that were on the dragon's leg and the dragon realizing that it was free stood up on its legs and stretched its wings. The goblins all froze in their tracks and tried to run back to the carts, all of them screaming their heads off.

Sadly for them though the dragon wouldn't allow this as it remembered all the times the goblins had wiped him and struck him with their blades, so with a huge roar it sent a blast of fire towards them, burning them and causing them to fall off the edge into the deep abyss. Harry then sent spells towards the surrounding roof breaking of the excess rocks blocking the dragon from fleeing. As soon as it was done the dragon bent its knees and dove upwards flying up towards freedom. The cold wind whipped around Harry and Hermione as they clung on for dear life.

Finally they saw light ahead and the dragon burst through into the main hall of Gringotts. Harry looked around and saw Death Eaters had swarmed the place and realized that the goblins were indeed working for Voldemort. The Death Eaters and the goblins all froze at the sight of the dragon entering the hall and all hell broke loose. The dragon was having none of it and immediately began breathing out fire and burning all those in the building. It also began eating those who were close to it. Harry and Hermione began to panic as the dragon had no intention of leaving the place with all those tasty meals for him here.

Seeing as this was the case the two of them jumped of the dragon and stood behind it, hiding from the Death Eaters. They began to inch their way towards the exit but the remaining Death Eaters had gotten together and had bombarded the dragon with spell fire and had eventually killed it leaving Harry and Hermione out in the open.

The remaining Death Eaters noticed them and began raining spells on them. Harry immediately cast a shield spell around them but it was a millisecond to late as a spell got through and hit Hermione in the chest. Her eyes widened in astonishment and slowly she fell back and hit the floor. Harry watched all this happening in slow motion and as her body hit the floor everything seemed to speed up.

The whole room became silent to Harry as he heard the blood pump in his body. He stared down at her body and his heart broke to pieces, she was dead. Slowly he turned towards the Death Eaters and they all gasped when they saw him, his eyes were bright red. Hatred and anger poured through him as he looked upon those that dared to hurt his Hermione.

It was then that female voice returned in his head "Ahh Harry, they have killed your little girlfriend. What are you going to do about it?"

Harry took in deep breaths and answered her "what do you think I should do?"

"I think you should do the same to them, show them no mercy and unleash your inner demon. Come on Potter don't be a pussy. Take revenge."

"Yes, you are right."

"Hahahahaha, of course I am right Potter, now let's see what you are made off."

With that Harry dropped the shield and leapt forward screaming in pure rage. The Death Eaters all scattered around looking for cover from an enraged Harry Potter.

Harry looked towards the nearest Death Eater and sent a curse towards him causing his head to explode, covering those near him in blood and gore. Harry then turned towards the goblins and caused them to smash against the walls, he then cast another spell sending all of their swords to fly and impale themselves into their owners. Soon most of the Death Eaters and goblins were either splattered across the walls and floor or where beheaded or dismembered. Harry stood there in the middle panting heavily as he felt the craving feeling leave him. Suddenly from behind the counter ran a single Death Eater. He cast a few spells towards Harry and ran out of the building before Harry could react to him.

Slowly Harry made his way towards Hermione and knelt beside her. He ran a finger down her cheek and found that she was still warm which puzzled him somewhat. He brought his head closer to hers and found that she was in fact still breathing.

Astonished Harry cast a diagnostic charm over her and found that she was in perfect health. Shocked he realized then that the Death Eater must have just stunned her. He looked around at all the death he had caused and felt bile rise up in his throat as guilt crept up in his mind. He squashed it all and took in a deep breath and knelt down and carried Hermione bridal style. He decided on taking her still unconscious home as he didn't want her to see what he had done. He walked out of Gringotts to find that it was still empty and the rouge Death Eater nowhere in sight. He sighed and turned on the spot apparating Hermione and himself back to Grimauld Place.

^v^

Lord Voldemort was one pissed off dark lord. Somehow his arch enemy had broken into his stronghold and kidnapped his best lieutenant. He was busy in Germany searching for the fabled Deathstick when he got the call from his Death Eaters and when he arrived to see the prisoners and Bellatrix gone and a few Death Eaters dead he vented out all his anger on those left behind.

He walked along the darkened passage ways of the manor deep in thought; it seemed that grindelwald had stolen the Deathstick from the old wand maker who had it and on his arrival at Nurmengard he had found out that the old dark lord had lost it, but to whom? Also why on earth did Potter kidnap Bellatrix? Would it not have been easier to just kill her? Why kidnap her and allow her to be in a position where she could kill him if he made a mistake. Perhaps the boy wanted his revenge for his godfather's death or perhaps he just took her on instinct?

According to those Death Eaters who witnessed Potter, he actually was quite powerful and quite the opposite from what Snape and the Malfoy boy spoke off. Also from probing the mind of those Death Eaters who were in the room it appeared that the boy had summoned some kind of demon, how could that be possible? Did the boy turn dark or was it just purely accidental. Lord Voldemort mulled over this information as he silently walked along the corridor and as he was about to enter his chamber a Death Eater ran in front of him panting for breath as he bowed and spoke in a ragged voice "My Lord. I have returned from Gringotts and bring news."

Voldemort looked at his minion and asked in an annoyed hiss "What happened? I didn't order anyone to go to Gringotts."

The Death Eater took a quick peek up at his face before looking back down and answering "The goblins my lord sent a message that they have seen Bellatrix so a group of us went to investigate."

"What did you find out?"

"It seems that Bellatrix requested entrance to her vault my lord. It also seems that she was not alone."

Voldemort looked at his minion in annoyance and hissed "And who was with her?"

The Death Eater gulped and answered in a small voice "It seems that Harry Potter and his mudblood girlfriend was with her, we suspect that Potter had Bellatrix under the imperious curse."

Voldemort froze at what he said. Potter was with Bellatrix when they went to her vault. Could it be that the boy had somehow found out about his Horcrux? What other reason would Potter want to enter her vault?

Voldemort gripped the Death Eater by the throat and lifted him up. He looked at him straight in the eye and asked in a dangerous voice "tell me what happened to Bella and what did they take from the vault?"

The Death Eater looked at his master in pure fear and terror and answered "We believe that Bellatrix is dead my lord as she did not come back up to the surface and we have no idea what they took from the vault."

Voldemort screamed in anger and all those Death Eaters in the manor shivered in fear and knew that it was going to be a long night.

2 DAYS LATER

It had been two days since they had destroyed the Horcrux and Harry was a little pleased, when he had gotten home he had enervated Hermione and told her a lie that he had apparated them away from Gringotts straight after she was cursed.

She had spent the tow days resting and Harry had spent the two days thinking about the kiss the two had shared at Gringotts. It was certainly an odd place to have a first kiss but for some reason he was glad that It had happened, he realized that as he didn't have long to live he was going to live life to the fullest and was going to be selfish for once and have some fun. He still hadn't talked to her about the kiss and was actually on his way to do so. He made his way to the kitchen where she was and on arriving there he found her engrossed in a rather old looking book.

She came up to her and she still didn't acknowledge him so he said "Hermione."

She looked up startled and saw that it was Harry. She looked down back at her book and spoke to Harry "Harry you startled me."

Harry smiled and asked her "What book do you have there?"

"It is the book Dumbledore left me. I have been reading it in my spare time and I have come across something rather odd."

Harry raised an eyebrow and sat down next to her. He put his head next to hers and looked down at where she was pointing. There above the heading of what appeared to be a story where two signs, one was a triangle with a circle in it and a line going from the top of the triangle across the circle and to the bottom of the triangle. Harry looked closely at it and realized that he had seen the sign somewhere else but couldn't put his finger on it. He then looked at the second symbol next to the triangle and he gasped in shock, the second symbol was the exact replica of the symbol on his wrist, the Devil's symbol.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Harry Potter J.K. Rowling does.**

**I would like to thank my beta MariusDarkwolf for editing this chapter.**

Harry just stared at the symbol wondering how the hell it got there. Slowly he ran a forefinger down it as if confirming that it was actually there and not a figment of his and Hermione's imagination. He pushed his sleeve down and put it next to the book and saw that it was an exact match. Hermione then grabbed his arm lightly and ran a finger over the mark, mesmerized by it. Why on earth was there an image of it in the book and what was the other image.

Harry looked up at Hermione and said "Why on earth is it in this book? I mean isn't it a children's story book? Did Dumbledore know about it?"

Hermione frowned and had a look of deep concentration. She brought the book up close to her face and peered at the two signs "I don't know. It could be because the two signs ink and font does not match the rest of the book, so it seems that someone added it. What is the other sign?"

"I don't know but I have seen it before."

Hermione looked at him in surprise before asking "Where?"

"At Bills wedding, Mr. Lovegood was wearing a chain with the sign on the end. Krum told me that it belonged to Grindelwald."

Hermione bit her bottom lip as she pondered this new information "Perhaps we can ask Luna if she knows what this is. Otherwise we have to go and see Mr. Lovegood about it."

Harry nodded at this and stood up, smoothing down his creased robes. He held out a hand and helped Hermione up who blushed at the contact but didn't seem to mind. As they walked upstairs Hermione noted that Harry still never let go of her hand.

^v^

Never before had the inhabitants of Malfoy Manor been more terrified. The reason being a very pissed off Lord Voldemort; his most trusted servant was dead, and something had been stolen from her vault, was what caused his anger levels to rise. So far he had killed three low level Death Eaters and had reduced two more to insanity with over use of the Cruciatus curse.

He sat in his throne in the meeting room, staring at the fire in the fireplace. His snake was coiled around the chair and he idly ran a finger down its back while he stared at the fire, drowning in its fiery beauty. As he sat there he began to think about his arch enemy, could the boy really be after his Horcrux or could he have just taken something else, perhaps a Black family heirloom? If he did take the Horcrux, did he know about the others? Was it that fool Dumbledore who realized it? He must have gotten the information from Slughorn, I should have tied up all the loose ends earlier, but nevertheless Potter will die.

As these thoughts ran through his head, Voldemort broke out of his trance while staring at the fire. He surveyed the room and his eyes landed on a book lying haphazardly on the side table next to him. The book seemed normal, but the word Dumbledore in the title caught his eye. He picked up the book and surveyed the front cover, his eyes lit up in delight as he saw the picture depicting two friends next to each other, Dumbledore and Grindelwald, and he realized then who had the Deathstick, with a hiss he said the name "Dumbledore."

^v^

The two soon reached the top floor and made their way to Luna's room but as they walked Harry remembered that he needed to speak to Mr. Ollivander, so he stopped at the first door and knocked. After about a minute Ollivander bade them enter with a dry wheezy voice.

They entered and found the old wand maker lying in bed although he did look much better than when they found him, his scars where gone and his face regained its color. He looked up at them with his gray watery eyes and spoke "Thank you, both of you, for saving me. I don't know what they would have done to me if you two hadn't come. "

Harry and Hermione both nodded and smiled at him. Harry then asked a question that had been burning at him since they saved the wand maker "Tell me Mr. Ollivander why did Voldemort kidnap you? Did he force you to make wands?"

The old man flinched at Harry saying Voldemort before replying "No…no He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did not want wands, he already had another supplier for that. At first he kidnapped me to ask about what happened between your wand and his. Then he began asking me about the Deathstick."

Hermione looked at him questioningly and asked "The Deathstick? What is that?"

"Ah my dear the Deathstick is the ultimate wand. It is the wand that can never be defeated. It is said that it can only be passed on through bloodshed."

Hermione frowned at this and said "Surly such a thing can't exist. I mean if anyone had it wouldn't they be the leader of this world."

Ollivander smiled and replied "Yes that should be the case with it, but history has shown that every holder of the Deathstick so far only used it to boast about its spectacular power and eventually that lead to the owners death."

The three of them stood in silence contemplating this new information before Harry asked "And where is it now?"

Ollivander looked thoughtful before answering "Well there is nothing in the history books about it for the last 100 years but there was a rumor many years ago that a German wand maker had it, if he had it or not I wouldn't know."

Harry and Hermione then thanked him and walked out of the room, now armed with new information. They walked along to see Luna both deep in thought. Was Voldemort looking for the Deathstick? Has he found it? Both shivered as they thought of the damage that Voldemort could do with it.

On arriving at Luna's room they knocked and entered to find that Luna had decorated the room to her odd taste. The walls were painted in a rainbow of bright colors that made your eyes water if you looked at them for a long period of time, she had also transfigured her bed from the old dull wrought iron to a nice colorful wooden base and headboard. Luna was currently sitting at the small desk making something with old butterbeer caps when she noticed them enter the room.

She smiled at them and spoke in her usual dream voice "Oh hello guys how are you today?"

Harry smiled at her and said "We are fine Luna and you? How are you coping?"

She gave them a sad smile and replied "I'm fine, it's just the occasional nightmare that gets me down but nevertheless I am very glad that you saved me from there."

Hermione smiled at her and walked up to her and gave her a hug "It's not a problem Luna. You are our friend."

Harry joined them by sitting on the bed and produced the book from his robes. He turned to the correct page and showed the sign to Luna "Luna do you know what this sign means? At Bill's wedding your father had this sign on a necklace and I want to know what it is."

Luna took the book and looked at it thoughtfully, her face scrunching up as she studied the symbol.

Slowly she nodded and handed the book back to Harry "Yes actually I do know. Father always talked about and how he hoped to one day find them."

Hermione had a quizzical look on her face and asked "What is this 'them'."

"They are the Deathly Hallows."

Harry and Hermione both gave Luna blank looks and asked "and what are the Deathly Hallows?"

Luna smiled at them and said "Well they are the three items from the story."

Hermione frowned at this and said "But it's just a kid's story. How can it be real?"

"Well the story is actually based on actual events, although they might have exaggerated on Death being the one to give them the items."

Harry looked at the two witches with a puzzled look and asked "What story are you talking about?"

Hermione huffed in annoyance and said "The story from the book. The one with the two signs on the top."

Harry grabbed the book and quickly browsed through the story before looking at Luna and saying "So you are saying that these three items, the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Invisibility Cloak are actually real."

Luna sighed and said "Well that is what people do believe."

Hermione frowned and said "Well there is evidence that a wand like that actually exists, as Ollivander just told us but the other two seem quite skeptical, I mean you can easily get an invisibility cloak but it never last long or doesn't even work properly and a stone that brings a person back to life, there is no magic that can bring a person back to life."

Just then Harry had a thought "What about my cloak. I mean come to think of it, it is not that young, my father had it and he must have gotten it from his father. And it has never been torn, or damaged in any way, from the time I got it, and you have to admit that we have used it in some pretty dangerous situations."

As he said that Hermione withdrew the cloak from her small bag that she kept in her pocket and carefully studied it, she carefully inspected every inch of the fabric looking for any defects. After a few minutes of silence as she checked it she frowned and gave it to Harry and said "Well you are right, the cloak seems to be immaculate, there is not a single defect in it."

"So these Deathly Hallows things are real?"

Hermione shook her head and said "Well the wizarding world is full of things that are bizarre and mind boggling so it could exist but if it does I don't think that it came about in the way the story described it."

Just then a scream erupted form Harry "Hermione what if Dumbledore wanted us to find the Deathly Hallows, I mean why would he give you a book with that sign on it. Surly he wants us to find them."

"I don't think so Harry. Dumbledore gave us the mission to find the Horcruxes and destroy them. If he wanted you to find the Hallows then he would have told you."

Hermione then peered intently at the book and said to a now sulking Harry "What bothers me more is why is there an image of the sign on your wrist in this book right next to the Deathly Hallows sign."

"Do you think Dumbledore put it there?"

"No I don't think so. If you look clearly you can see that the ink appears older and slightly fainter than the Hallows sign."

The three of them stared at the sign, all deep in thought wondering why it was there when suddenly Harry spoke in a quite whisper "What if… what if the death in the tale was not death at all what if it was the devil?"

After Harry said that Hermione shot up as if she was struck by lightning and grabbed the book from them and said "I think I know why it is there. Don't disturb me." And with that she ran out of the room like an Olympic sprinter.

Both Harry and Luna looked at each other and said at the same time "Library."

^v^

The day soon passed into the night and the three of them were currently sitting in the kitchen having a meal, Ollivander was still too weak to come down, and had to have his meals brought up to him. Hermione had still not said a word on what she was researching but said that it was of the utmost importance.

Harry looked up at Hermione and was about to say something before an intense pain erupted from his scar and he crashed to the ground holding his now bleeding scar. The two girls scrambled beside him and started to console him and try to ease the pain but to no avail.

After about two minutes of screaming and twitching in pain Harry started to calm down and began to breathe at a regular pace. Luna went and got a glass of water for him which he downed in two gulps. Hermione helped him to sit up and began to wipe away the sweat that glistened on his forward as she waited for him to speak about what happened.

After taking a few deep breathes Harry looked at Hermione with slight fear in his eyes and said "He has it. Tom has the Elder Wand, Dumbledore was the old master. Tom took it from his tomb."

The two girls gasped in shock at what they heard and as they sat there contemplating what they head the kitchen door banged open and the three of them were greeted with another shock as Hermione gasped out "Ron."

**Please R&R and thank you for reading.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Harry Potter J.K Rowling does. **

All three of them stared at Ron wondering what the hell he was doing there. Ron meanwhile looked as confused as ever as he stared at the three of them sitting on the floor staring at him with their mouths agape. He looked so comical with his face all confused, his clothes on backwards, his hair filthy and matted with dirt and what appeared to be his attempt to grow a beard but in fact it just looked like pubes that the two girls sitting by Harry immediately started giggling which soon erupted in an all-out laughter.

Gingerly Harry got up and held onto the table's edge for support. He looked up at his once best friend and glared at him as flashes of all of his betrayals entered his mind "What are you doing here Ron?"

Ron still just gaped at the three of them, his mouth opening and closing with no sound escaping. Finally though he did speak "I…I came looking for you. I felt bad about leaving you so I started searching all over for you. I came to help you."

Harry gave him a look of disgust and said "And why on earth would I want your help Ron? You see I have been thinking about our friendship lately and I have begun to realize that you are just a no good son of a bitch. All you do is complain, eat, talk about quidditch and play chess. Throughout all of our school years all you ever did was belittle Hermione, cause her to cry and always try and make me skiv of work."

Total silence met Harry's rant; the only sound in the room was his panting as he stared at Ron in anger. Ron meanwhile had gone red in the face as Harry spoke and when he was finished Ron looked like a ripe tomato about to burst. He began spluttering and stuttering about as he tried to form some semblance of words until finally he gave up and drew his wand level with Harry's face. Alas he did not take into account the two other witches in the room who on seeing him raise his wand immediately lifted theirs and cast simultaneous stunners which smashed into his chest causing him to fly and hit into the wall with a sickening thud.

Harry's breathing soon came back to normal as he glared at Ron's limp body. The hand holding his wand twitching, eager to let loose a barrage of spells and curses at the red head. Silently Luna strode forward and sent a few spells at Ron causing him to float into one of the chairs and also ropes to surround him and bind him to the chair. Hermione crept forward towards Harry and slowly she grasped the hand holding his wand. As if shocked Harry jumped slightly and spun around to see it was just Hermione. He shook his head and pocketed his wand before encasing her in a hug. She poured out her feelings into the hug as she consoled him.

"He was our best friend but now I just can't trust him." Harry muttered to her as if trying to give reason to what he had done.

Hermione nodded into his shoulder and said into his ear "Yes Harry he WAS our best friend, not any more. He deserted us enough times."

The two let go of each other and stared at the red head "How did he enter the house. Kreacher said that the old Black Wards came into effect when the Death Eaters tried to enter the house so I thought that they would repel all but those I choose to bring in. I mean we haven't seen anyone from the Order yet."

Hermione contemplated this and replied "Well I think that as you remember when Dumbledore died, all those who knew the secret could enters so I think that most probably that overridden the Black Wards. Of course the Black Wards are pretty weak at the moment since no one was staying here for a long time so I don't know what could have happened if it was at full strength, most probably killed him or something pretty nasty knowing how dark the Black family was."

Harry nodded at this and asked "What do we do with him now?"

Hermione shrugged and said "Well we can't keep him here that's for sure but we also can't send him outside with the knowledge that we are here. I think we should obliviate him and leave him near the Burrow or something. We should also probably remove all of his knowledge of the Horcrux from him as we don't know what he will do in his anger. He could even spill it to a Death Eater and then You-Know-Who will find out."

Harry sighed and looked at Ron, wondering what had happened to the red head. He stepped forward and raised his wand level to his now ex best friend and was about to cast the memory charm before his forehead erupted in pain again. The pain was a hundred times worse than before and it was all centered down on his scar. He clutched at his head screaming in agony, his body swaying and unbalanced as his entire nervous system was flooded with pain. At the back of his mind he could hear Hermione and Luna shouting at him and trying to talk to him but he could not reply. Then he heard it, that laughter, it was Voldemort. The pain increased with the laughter and it carried on for a few seconds before it died down and as it died Harry collapsed into blissful unconsciousness.

Hermione Granger was at her wits end with worry. For the past four hours her best friend or boyfriend, if past actions were taken into account, had been totally knocked out. She had tried numerous ways, both magical and mundane, to wake him from his slumber but to no avail. After her failed attempts Luna had convinced her that they should take Harry upstairs to one of the bedrooms where he would be more comfortable and so for the past four hours she had sat by his bedside. She had brought one of the many books from the Black library with her to pass the time and to allow herself to get lost in it and allow the worry to disappear if only for a little while. As she read away a small murmur broke her concentration and as she looked up trying to spot where the sound came from she saw Harry's eyelids fluttering as he tried to open them.

Immediately she threw the book to the ground and went closer to Harry whispering to him "Harry. Wake up Harry."

As she said that Harry slowly opened his eyes and peered around the room disorientated. He tried to talk but all that resulted was a hacking cough. Hermione conjured up a glass of chilled water and lifted his head up while placing the glass to his lips for him to drink. After drinking his fill Harry gave her a weak smile as thanks and laid back down closing his eyes and sighing. Hermione waited for a few minutes before her worry for him overcame her and she had to know what had happened so she asked him "Harry what happened?"

Harry just said one word "Riddle."

Hermione forced herself not to roll her eyes and just said "I know that Harry but how come. You were supposed to have an impenetrable shield. How come he got past it?"

Harry looked at her in the eye and she saw a hint of fear in them and what he said next nearly made her blood freeze "He has the Elder Wand."

**Please R&R and thank you for reading. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Harry Potter J.K Rowling does. **

**Only one more chapter left after this one. It is quite exciting. **

It felt as someone had sucked out all of the oxygen from the room as both of them seemed to stop breathing. Hermione looked at Harry as if he had grown a second head. She released the breath she did not know she was holding in and drew in a few deep breaths as she steadied herself.

"What do you mean he has the Elder Wand?"

Harry sat back up and leaned his back against the cold steel of the bed before rubbing his now throbbing head. He looked at Hermione and said "it seems Dumbledore was the old master of the Elder Wand. I saw Riddle remove it from Dumbledore's tomb."

Hermione gasped in shock at what Harry said and began to consider the implications of this new found information. It was beginning to seem as if whatever deity that was out there seemed to be against them for some reason as bad luck after bad luck had seemed to plague them from the beginning of this retched trip. Finally Hermione asked Harry "well that still does not explain how he got through your occlumency shields. I doubt even with the Elder Wand you would be able to cast a legimency spell from so far, if that is even possible."

Harry laughed mirthlessly at what she said and answered "Quite ingenious really. All he did was simply point the wand to his head and cast the legimency spell. As he is a master legimence and occlumence he was able to manipulate the spell towards the connection we have."

Hermione in awe at the capabilities of Voldemort just whispered "Wow."

"Yeah, you know Tom is one of the most brilliant wizards in the world. He has power beyond our wildest dreams. How on earth did Dumbledore expect us to destroy him?"

"I don't know; he would probably have you walk in front of a killing curse and then eventually you using an expeliarmus to finish him off."

Harry snorted at this and said "Like that will actually work. Well I did learn some good from Tom's attack."

Hermione perked up at this and asked "What?"

"Well I learnt that there are two more Horcruxes. One is Ravenclaw's Diadem and that is actually in the room of requirements at Hogwarts. Tom actually thought that he was the only one to have found that room, arrogant fool. The other is in his snake, Nagini; it seemed that Dumbledore was right."

There was complete silence after Harry said that and Harry was confused so he looked up at Hermione and what he saw there actually scared him. Hermione had a furious look on his face that would have quelled even Voldemort, it made Harry want to run away from that room at the speed of light. Then she started screaming at him in a voice that made the hairs on Harry's neck stand up "why on earth did you not tell me that in the beginning. Do you know how important that information is. What if You-Know-Who found out through your connection that we were hunting his Horcruxes then what?"

In a small voice Harry said "He didn't find out anything. I stopped him almost immediately."

Hermione glared at him before stalking out of the room muttering about fools and methods on how to break into Hogwarts. Harry just sighed and lay back down onto the bed, exhausted he fell back into sleep almost immediately.

The next time Harry opened his eyes he saw from the light shining through the rather filthy window that it was early morning. He grudgingly left the warmth of his bed and got up. He winced as his feet landed on the cold floor as he stretched his sore muscles and cracked his back. He did his normal morning routine of having a quick shower and brushing his teeth before throwing on some jeans and a t shirt and made his way downstairs.

Ravenous from last night's drama he quickly made his way to the kitchen eager for a good breakfast. As he entered the kitchen he found that Ron was still tied up to the chair but he was now awake and it appeared that someone had cast a silencing charm on him as he looked to be shouting at the top of his voice but not a sound was heard. Hermione and Luna were already at the table eating and did not seem at all affected Ron's screaming. Harry sat down and grabbed a plate for himself and began eating, the three of them eating in a comfortable silence, after a while though Harry asked no one in particular "So what happened to Ron?"

Luna just shrugged and said "Well when we got here he was awake and began shouting some rather obscene words at us so I silenced him."

Harry nodded and looked towards Ron who seemed to be salivating at the sight of all the delicious food in front of him but just out of his grasp "It must be torture for him."

"Probably worse than the crutiatus curse don't you think." Luna quipped in.

Hermione then looked up at Luna and asked "Luna not be rude but why have you not gone to see your father. I mean I am sure that he would like to see that you are safe."

"Well it would be nice to see him but I have no idea where he is. While I was incarcerated I overheard the Death Eaters saying that they burnt our house down and that they could not find my father any were so I am sure that he is hiding."

"Well it's good to hear that your dad is safe but I am sorry about your house."

"It's alright. Dad and I are safe and that is all that matters. Although I am sure father will be quite sad that his rare books and specimens on honeybadgers and nargles were destroyed."

The two other teens nodded at this not wanting to question Luna's and her father's odd obsession with weird and most probably imaginary animals.

Hermione placed her utensils down as she finished breakfast and with a quick flick of her was stunned Ron. She then looked towards the other two and started speaking "You know after what you said last night we have to break into Hogwarts. And from what we know it is going to be neigh impossible, what with Snape as Headmaster, Death Eaters as teachers, the whole of Hogsmead being watched and under curfew."

"Well we could always just run headlong in and go with the flow. It has never let us down before."

All that resulted from his speech was a smack to the back of the head from Luna and a glare from Hermione. So to try and make some amends Harry said "Why don't we just apparate to the Hogs Head. It does belong to Dumbledore's brother so I am sure that he would help us."

"Well that could be a plan but what do we do there once we are there?"

"Why don't we use the DA coins to send a message to those in the castle? I am sure most of the still have them and would be willing to help."

Hermione smiled at Luna's idea and withdrew Harry's coin which could relay messages to all the others and gave it to Luna "Here Luna. Why don't you send a message saying that we will be at the Hogs Head?"

With the coin in hand Luna walked out of the room to send the message. Harry then looked at Hermione with concern and said quietly "have you found anything regarding me."

Hermione looked at him and nodded "Yes I have but you will have to trust me Harry. I cannot tell you it now, when you are ready I will but not know."

Harry looked like he was about to argue but stopped when he saw the tears shining in Hermione's eyes as she pleaded with him. Nodded to her and pulled her into a hug calming her down.

After a while they separated and Luna came down with good news, it seemed that Neville knew a way to get into the castle and all they had to do was get to the Hogs Head. So the three made plans to leave that night and all promptly went to get ready for what they knew would be the final battle.

Lord Voldemort was happy no scratch that he was deliriously happy. The old fool's wand worked wonders for him and took great delight in using it to kill torture all those foolish muggles. He had decided to break out the wand on a small sea side town where he and his Death Eaters destroyed the entire town, the power of the wand surpassing all of his expectations. After that he had an even greater idea, he had used the power of the wand to break through Potter's Occlumency barriers and cause him a whole lot of pain. Now he sat on his throne caressing his wand planning the demise of Harry Potter when suddenly he felt the connection he had with his Death Eaters through the dark mark and he smiled, Harry Potter was at Hogwarts.

Not a sound was heard in the streets of Hogsmead as the entire town was placed under curfew. The clear sky allowed the stars to shine on done and light up the village bathing it in a white glow. Most of the town's inhabitants had already gone to bed and the inn, the Flying Broomstick, was closed for the night. Although a bit further from the main streets was the Hogs head and that was a different story. There the bar was filled with patrons of all sorts, drinking and gambling and doing business deals that one could only hope to achieve there as no one really bothered what you did there. As all this was happening no one noticed three people dressed in full black and wearing hoods apparate into the bar and silently walk to the back room.

Those same three people then walked up the stairs and into one of sitting rooms there were they stood waiting for a while before a man who looked astonishingly like Albus Dumbledore came upstairs to greet them. .

"Potter." the man said in a gruff voice.

All three of them then lowered their hoods to reveal the faces of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood. Harry looked at the man and said "Yeah, you Aberforth?"

The man grunted and nodded before saying "Your friend sent a message that you would be coming. He'll be in a moment."

"Thank you."

Aberforth grunted again and just stood there. There was silence between the four of them before something astonishing happened, the fireplace in the wall behind them opened up with a loud grating sound and even more astonishingly Neville Longbottom came out of it. As soon as he came out Harry, Hermione and Luna all hugged him and greeted him with smiles on their faces. He soon explained to them that there was an unknown passage going from Aberforth's pup to greenhouse 3 at Hogwarts and that he had found it after he helped Professor Sprout clean up the greenhouse. He then mentioned to Aberforth that there might be a few other people coming through later before ushering the three into the passage way towards Hogwarts.

As they walked through the narrow passage Neville brought them up to speed on what was happening at Hogwarts "It is pretty bad up there you know. The two Death Eaters they have as teachers don't teach at all. They are just there to ensure that the students don't start fighting back. I and a few others began helping the younger students out and we sort of carried on Dumbledore's army. At first they did not do much to us, just gave us detention and made us right with a blood quill but as we became more ambitious they started getting more evil as well. A lot of the students have had the crutiatus curse placed on them and a lot of them were taken away and never seen again."

The other three listened in apt silence as Neville carried on talking about the different things they did. Soon though they came to stop and realized that they were at the greenhouse tunnel entrance. They saw a small rickety ladder that led upwards and all four of them climbed up to find themselves in the back of the greenhouse which was usually covered with manure bags. The four of them then crept outside and used the darkness as cover as they made their way to the front door. There they found that someone was there waiting by the door. They crept inside and with haste followed Neville up to the Room of Requirements on the seventh floor.

As Neville walked past three times he quickly shoved them inside and to their shock they found it was already filled with students. As soon as Neville closed the door all of the students looked up to see Harry and Hermione and immediately there was bedlam. Students from all of the houses were clambering about to get to them, to shake their hands or pat them on the back until finally Neville shot of a few sparks from his wand to calm the chaos. Harry and Hermione both smiled at the student and one by one the students asked questions

"Where have you been?"

"Did you really kill that dragon at Gringotts?"

"What are you three doing here?"

"Where is Ron?"

Harry raised his hand to silence the crowd and began answering them "Well we have been all about doing a mission for Dumbledore to bring down You-know-who. As for Ron well he betrayed us and he has been taken care of. Yes I did kill that dragon and we are actually here to find something."

Hermione looked like she was about to argue but Harry whispered in her ear "We could use their help in finding it. I am sure someone must have seen it." to which Hermione nodded.

Then Harry raised his voice to the crowd and said "We are here to look for Ravenclaw's Diadem. According to what we know it was supposed to be in this room. Has anyone seen it?"

Before anyone could ask what it looked like the room provided a copy of it as a form of a statue of Ravenclaw with her diadem. The students all looked at it and most of them shook their heads before a young first year Ravenclaw quipped up and said "I have seen it before. The Carows took it out from here ages ago; I saw it when I was spying on them for the group."

Harry's heart sank as he realized that Voldemort might have placed it somewhere else but nevertheless he asked "Do you know where it is kept?"

"Yeah they keep it with them at all times. They take turns in keeping it."

Harry's brow furrowed as he wondered how he was going to obtain the Horcrux when suddenly he got an idea. He removed the marauders map from his pocket and said the password. He waited as the map revealed it's self and then scoured it to find the whereabouts of the tow Death Eaters. He found that one of them was in fact about to enter Gryffindor Tower which was closest to the Room of Requirements so he decided to head there first.

He silently showed the map to Hermione and she nodded, understanding what he was planning. He looked up at the others who were looking up in curiosity. He then spoke to them "Right, me and Hermione are going to find one of the Death Eaters close by. Now the rest of you need to go and rouse the professors because I am sure You-know-who will be coming here tonight."

Most of the students gasped in shock at what Harry had said and a lot of the younger students were in tears but almost all of the older students had looks of determination on their faces. Harry and Hermione then quickly left through the door and made their way towards Gryffindor tower as a few of the older students left in pairs to wake up the professors.

The two though quickly found themselves at the portrait of the fat lady who just looked at them with a quirked eyebrow and said "Well, well, well I never thought I would see you this year."

Realizing their stupidity at not asking anybody for the password Hermione wrung her hands and tried to plead with her "Please could you let us in. we do not know the password but we really do need to get in."

The fat lady looked at them before swinging open and allowing them entrance. Quietly the two entered through the hole and peered into the common room. They saw the Death Eater standing by the girl's staircase as if waiting for someone. Ever so silently Harry made his way towards the man, using the darkness due to the fireplace now dead. He quickly pulled out his wand and sent a stunner towards the man but unfortunately the darkness also caused to red spell to be brighten up the room and allow the Death Eater to spot it and dive away. Harry flicked his wand causing one of the tables to turn sideways so as to provide cover for him and Hermione.

"Who the hell are you, you worthless piece of shit. You will die for what you did." The Death Eater shouted out from behind the couch before he began casting dark curses and unforgivable at them. Hermione looked around the table and saw that the man was directly in front of the fireplace so she sent a powerful incendio charm towards which caused it to erupt in flames causing the man to jump out of the way in fear. Harry used that advantage and cast a quick reducto and blew the man's right leg of. Ignoring the man's howls of pain Harry scrambled to him and began searching him for the diadem but his search was fruitless as all he found was some notes and other odds and ends. Harry screamed in frustration and with a swipe of his wand cast the killing curse at the Death Eater. He looked towards Hermione and saw her looking at him with a hint of fear in her eyes but before he could say anything to her a voice came from the entrance of the common room "Looking for this Potter?"

Harry snapped his head towards the voice and spotted the other Death Eater standing there with the diadem in hand and a smug look on her face as she placed the tip of her wand onto her dark mark. Harry' scar flared for a second before he beat it down with his occlumency.

"The dark lord is coming Potter." the lady cackled.

But it seemed that she laughed too soon as she crumpled to the floor mid laugh. Harry looked past her and saw an angry professor McGonagall with wand in hand. Hermione walked towards the Death Eater and grabbed the diadem from the floor where it had rolled. McGonagall walked into the common room and surveyed the damage that there little dual had caused before turning to Harry and saying "Well Mr. Potter first day back and already causing trouble."

Harry gave a weak smile before replying "Trouble seems to follow me professor. It seems that our Death Eater friend here has notified her master of me being here and I am sure that he will be here soon. You need to get the children out of here."

McGonagall looked taken back at the way Harry commanded her to do it but she quickly steadied herself and nodded before sending a patronus to the other professors and then walking up the stairs to wake up the children in Gryffindor tower. Harry and Hermione meanwhile grabbed onto the still alive Death Eater and dragged her away and into the next empty classroom they found. They quickly locked and sealed the room before tying the Death Eater to a chair. They could hear the sound of the students running past the room as they made their way to the great hall but pushed that away and concentrated at the task at hand.

With slight trepidation Harry took the diadem from Hermione and slowly placed it onto the Death Eaters head and then stood back to wait. After ten minutes there was nothing, nothing happened.

**Please R&R and thank you for reading.**


End file.
